


Song of the Sparrow

by literarytrash



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Inspired by The Umbrella Academy, Multi, The Umbrella Academy (TV) Spoilers, Umbrella Academy - Freeform, can i say i'm back on my bullshit if i was never off it in the first place, fighting with your siblings IS family bonding, in my defense: they ARE idiots, is this an idiot plot? idk probably, please comment if you like this fic comments make my year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 36,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literarytrash/pseuds/literarytrash
Summary: Set directly after the Hargreeves land in the Sparrow Academy timeline. I'm completely working with my imagination here, but it includes a lot of family bonding, power developments, training sessions, and one very rightfully angry Klaus that we've all been waiting for.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz, Raymond Chestnut/Allison Hargreeves, Sissy Cooper/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 58
Kudos: 85





	1. Five

**Author's Note:**

> I'm finally ready to start posting for this fic! I have lots of chapters already written, so upload days will be Wednesday and Saturday nights. As always, please feel free to submit any ideas for this fic, and I'd love to hear feedback in the comments below! 
> 
> Anyways; enjoy!

Seeing them all, standing above us, was like looking in a mirror. Albeit, a sick, twisted fun-house mirror, but a mirror nonetheless. The uniforms, the stance, the mansion; they were us. Only not.

“Get out of our house,” one of the girls spoke, and her voice had a sing-songy quality that was too familiar for comfort for me.

“Wait, wait wait wait,” I spun around to look at Reginald, who wore the same look of contempt that he always wore, no matter what timeline he was in. He nodded to me, and I glared, so angry and tired and just beyond done with this bullshit that I took a step towards him, forgetting for the moment that I looked like a pre-teen child throwing a tantrum.

“You _didn’t adopt us?_ Are you insane? Do you even know the half of the kind of disastrous, irreparable damage you might have-”

Reginald held a dismissive hand up, and the same girl from before spoke from behind me, her voice flowing through my head and rendering me speechless. 

_“I think you should just shut up, boy.”_

I tried making any sort of noise, to no avail, and I whipped around, ready to bounce up to that balcony and beat the shit out of whoever did this, my previous vow to swear off killing be damned. Luther stopped me, however, grabbing my arm and giving me a warning glare. 

Allison, too, had taken a step towards me, and I looked to her, pleading with my eyes for her to do something. She’d had the same idea already, and stared directly at Reginald as she spoke. 

“I heard a rumor,” she looked to me, and I sagged in relief as I felt the same energy controlling my brain, fixing this. “That you could speak again.”

I nodded, once, and whipped back around to Reginald, who was at least looking mildly annoyed at this point. “As I was saying, you have absolutely no idea what this does to the timeline, any of them, for that matter, and I may have considered you an asshole, a terrible father, and a manipulative genius,” I took another step forward, straightening my tie and staring him straight in his monocled eye. “But I never considered you an idiot.” 

I heard Klaus make an approving exclamation behind me, but I was struggling to focus on Reginald now, the entire room tilting before me. I thought it had to be one of the powers of the people behind me, but it quickly became very clear that it wasn’t. I hit the ground hard, and heard a lot of voices ring out around me, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying past the blood rushing to my head. I was so confused, and I couldn’t open my eyes, and it only then dawned on me that I was passing out cold. 

I woke up in a room that was eerily familiar, and as I looked around, I did a double-take at what I saw. 

“Pogo?”

Pogo was eying me warily, and I’d never seen him look at me like that. It was disconcerting, to say the least; Pogo had always liked me, respected me, even. 

“How do you know my name, child?”

I shook my head, sitting up and immediately wincing. We were in the medical room of the academy, which seemed to be the exact same as it was in our timeline. “I’m not a child. And I know you. Or, well, a version of you.” I scanned the room again, still a bit dizzy. “Where is my family? What did you do to them?” 

Pogo held up a hand, slowly making his way towards me with a cup held in his other. “They’re fine, I promise. They told me to give you this.”

I took the cup carefully, not trusting it until I smelled what was inside it. Given, it still may have been poison, but that didn’t stop me from drinking the whole cup of coffee in five seconds flat. Pogo seemed a bit amused, but hid it by turning away from me, adjusting something on the counter at the back of the room. 

“Sir Reginald seems to know who you are, but I do not. Care to explain?”

I watched him, studying his demeanor, and decided that Pogo was still Pogo in any timeline. Besides, I’d always liked his no-bullshit attitude. “Well, you did do this,” I turned my head, gesturing to the deep gauges in my neck, and Pogo approached me slowly, examining the cuts. “For you, this would have been over fifty years ago. For me, it was Tuesday.”

Pogo stepped back, looking at the floor. “I apologize. I don’t remember doing that, but I was a lot different, back then. As I’m sure you know.”

I nodded. “Apology accepted. Now, I really do need to find my siblings-”

Ignoring me, Pogo handed me another cup of coffee, and while I didn’t have many weaknesses, caffeine was one of them. I drank this one more slowly, trying to wake myself up, but I was having a hard time focusing. Too much time-traveling in too little time. Plus, my whole body hurt, and I only then remembered that I'd had a pile of bricks fall on me, gotten my shit wrecked by Lila, technically been shot, and that was only in the last hour. I was feeling it, even in this young body.

“What is your name?”

I glanced at Pogo, giving him a wry half-smile. “Number Five. Five Hargreeves.”

Pogo had never been good at hiding his expressions, and that held true now. He seemed shocked, and I was honestly surprised Reginald hadn’t told him about the bunch of kids he’d met in 1963 that led him to adopt the ones he had in 1989. 

“Guess the old man really doesn’t trust anyone after all, huh?” I hopped down off the table, stretching my arms over my head and hearing my elbows pop. “To save you some trouble; he adopted us first, in a different timeline. We confronted him in ‘63, and I guess he just hated us all so much he decided to pick a different group of kids to destroy the lives of. Fitting for him, quite honestly.” Pogo said nothing, letting me walk out of the room and down the neverending halls to find the rest of my family before we destroyed this timeline, too.

Knowing us, we were probably already a week late and a dollar short.


	2. Vanya

I hadn’t said much since everything went down this morning, and I didn’t really say much now, in the living room with my siblings arguing around me. I felt like I’d lived thirty years in the last twenty-four hours, and my brain was just spinning around like a loading symbol on a webpage. I knew there were more important matters at hand, such as the literal seven super-powered people who'd replaced us, but I gave myself some leeway. I'd been tortured, electroshocked, given LSD, had almost destroyed the world _again_ , and had had to leave the woman I loved back in the 60's. I could use a second to breathe. 

Surprisingly, Diego was the one who noticed first how unresponsive I was. I liked Diego; I had memories of him from before my car accident now, obviously, but I liked the new Diego. He seemed less angry, somehow, as if he'd finally grown up somewhat. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing, or maybe it was; maybe it was just being around our father that was making him different. I honestly couldn’t say.

"Vanya, everything okay over there?" 

I smiled a bit at him, sheepish now that all four of them were staring at me. "Uh, yeah. Just worried, y'know, about Five. And, well, everything else, too."

Diego nodded, accepting that, and Luther coughed, drawing my eyes to him.

“You sure you’re not overwhelmed or anything?” I knew what he was insinuating, and apparently Allison did as well, since she shot him a warning glare. I saw him shrug.

“No, I’m okay. Just worried is all.” I gave them all a smile, hoping it looked reassuring. “Thanks, Luther. And thank you, Diego.”

Diego gave me a nod, going back to spinning the pencil he’d had in his hand ever since Reginald had ordered all our weapons to be taken away from us. Since Diego had been the sole carrier of most of those weapons, he was still bitter about being patted down and searched. 

We all jumped about a foot in the air when Five appeared in front of us, still covered in blood from the previous day and somehow looking even more tired despite having been out for about an hour now. 

“Alright, what have you all figured out?” We all stared at him blankly; crickets could have been chirping. “Seriously? Nothing?” Five seemed frustrated, but then again, he’d seemed frustrated from birth.

“Are you okay?” I tentatively reached a hand out, and surprisingly, Five let me touch his arm. I’d seen Luther do the same thing before, and Klaus, and he’d angrily shoved them both off. 

“No. I’m pissed. Not only did we royally fuck up the timeline, but we got _replaced_. Unbelievable.” Five began pacing very quickly, his hand running through his hair every few moments. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

None of us were being very helpful, too scared of riling Five up even more to say anything. Luther was the one who finally said something, looking off in the distance as he did. “What if we do… nothing. For once.” He ignored FIve’s incredulous stare. “We’ve stopped two apocalypses, survived two timelines, and maybe, just maybe, we can just take a breather now.”

Five immediately started protesting, but the rest of us stayed silent. Luther had a point; we’d been through hell in the last week, and for some of us, the last few years. None of us had really had a break since before dad had died in our timeline. The fact that Luther of all of us was the one suggestion this idea showed just how strung out we all were. 

“You people are seriously fine with sitting back and letting this happen?” All he received was another round of cricket-mimicking silence. Five angrily kicked a chair, sending it skittering across the parlor, where Reginald stopped it with his foot. Five didn’t even blink, staring him down with his fists balled at his side. 

“Before you start again,” Reginald interrupted Five mid-breath. “Let me remind you that this is my home, and you are not going to be disrespecting my possessions like this whilst you’re here. You’re a grown man; act like it.”

Klaus snorted, and Reginald turned his withering stare to the rest of us. “As for you all, I have spoken with my team-”

“ _We’re your team-_ ”

Reginald actually shushed Diego, causing him to sit back and look as if he’d just been slapped. “I have spoken with my team, and we’ve decided that you may be of some use after all. With one stipulation-”

Allison spoke up, for the first time I had seen since meeting this Reginald in the 60’s, and I was proud of her. She was fierce and knew it, and she knew how to use her voice—in more ways than just rumoring people—to get a point across. After all, she'd been a prominent advocator for civil rights in the sixties, and I couldn't even imagine the kind of courage that took. Reginald was nothing to her; plus, she'd always been able to reason with him the most.

“What makes you think that we want to work with you at all? Let alone under a stipulation?” Allison gestured to us all, keeping her cool externally but letting her anger creep into her tone. “You tortured us, locked us in tombs, mentally abused us, and turned Vanya into a literal bomb. And you think we want to _help_ you?”

Unfortunately, Reginald did not seem as moved as the rest of us. He waited until Allison was finished, and sighed, clearly already exhausted by the lot of us. 

“I do. The fate of the world is in my team’s hands, and we stand a statistically better chance with you working with us. Do not be fooled, however; we do not need you, under any circumstance. We are offering you a way to be of use out of sheer charity and mutualism alone.”

Reginald saw the looks on our faces, and turned away, calling over his shoulder as he left. “I’ll give you time to discuss it, since you so clearly need it.”

A door slammed, and we were all left feeling like we had lost yet another battle.


	3. Allison

Five had quickly become our pinhead, and turned a hard stare to each of us. “Listen, we don’t have to stay here. We can go to the commission, or try to find-”

“I want to stay.”

It took a moment before any of us realized that Klaus had spoken, he had been so quiet. He wasn’t looking at us at all, fiddling with one of his necklaces instead. Five gave an exasperated sigh, and despite only looking like a teenager, he gave off the energy of someone who’d been through everything. I realized then that he probably had; none of us knew what Five had been through in the last 45 years, and we probably never would.

“Alright, fine. I guess that’s one vote. Luther?”

Luther shook his head. “I’d rather do just about anything else.”

Five nodded approvingly. “Diego?”

Diego had been uncharacteristically silent since Reginald had reprimanded him, and when he began to speak, I realized why. “I don’t know. I guess I wa-want to help. Here. If it really is the end of the wor-world.”

Another exasperated sigh. “Allison?”

I honestly didn’t know. I looked at Vanya, who also seemed unsure, and Five turned to Klaus once more, clearly not having time for our indecisiveness. 

“Klaus, what does Ben-”

Five stopped cold mid-sentence. All of our eyes widened, and Klaus froze, closing his eyes. Vanya had explained to us in hushed voices what had happened at the FBI building in Dallas, and while Klaus hadn’t brought it up, none of us had had a chance to yet. At least Five had the decency to move on; Klaus still hadn’t moved, his hand clutching the necklace tightly in a fist.

“Well, we’re tied, so Allison and Vanya, it’s up to you two.”

Vanya and I shared a long look, and I wondered if we were thinking the same thing as we both nodded. "We're staying." Vanya sounded firm, and while Five clearly didn't like it, he sighed in defeat. 

"Fine. Who wants to do the honors and tell Hargreeves?" 

We were all silent again until the last person any of us expected to speak started walking towards the door. 

"I'll do it," Vanya called over her shoulder, and as we watched the door close behind her, we all shared a long, stunned look. 

"Well that can go one of two ways," Diego snorted, nodding appreciatively in the direction our sister had gone. Five seemed thrown for a loop, and Luther mirrored my expression of mild fear. I loved Vanya, but she knew just as well as the rest of us now what Reginald had done to her. She'd also never been one for confrontation, and I just hoped the guys were as ready to run as I was, if or when she killed Reginald.

Klaus was the only one who hadn't really acknowledged Vanya's courage, and I wondered if the others were picking up on Klaus' energy as much as I was. His mood had changed swiftly in the last few hours, almost like night and day. I was honestly starting to get seriously concerned, but no one else seemed to notice or care, and were still talking too loudly for my liking.

"Should we wait here for her?" Luther asked, seeming torn. 

"Or go after her?" Diego held his hands up when I gave him a dirty look. "I'm just saying, she's not exactly the most level-headed out of the six of us." 

"And you are?" Five bit back, bristling when Diego stood up to glare down at him. They looked as if they wanted to finally fight each other, and while I thought this wasn't the best time for our little bunch to be fighting, I did think it would be hilarious to watch Diego get his ass handed to him by a thirteen-year-old. 

"Can any of you just shut the fuck up?" 

Klaus had stunned the boys into silence, but I'd kind of seen his outburst coming for a few minutes now. I gave them all warning looks, shaking my head ever-so-slightly. 

"I'll stay here and wait for Vanya. You three go take your testosterone outside if you're going to fight; I think we've embarrassed ourselves enough in here for today." 

They sulked out of the room in a huff of angry mutters, and I sighed, sitting on the floor next to Klaus without quite touching him. I knew my brother, and after the last few days, I felt like we'd grown a lot closer than we'd been in years. Klaus had clearly been through a lot since the last time I'd really seen him—which was over a year ago for me and about three for him—and whatever it was seemed to finally be taking its toll on him. 

"Hey," I started gently, pulling my knees to my chest and knocking his own with mine. Klaus didn't answer, staring at a point on the floor in front of him but clearly being years away in his head. I bumped him again, receiving no acknowledgment, and instead scooted closer to him, until my arm was fully pressed against his, our legs lined up together. I didn't say anything for a while; Klaus obviously didn't want to talk yet, and I didn't think anything I could say would make him feel any better. I knew it wasn't just Ben being gone that was bothering Klaus; he'd always hated our father, and in Dallas he'd been talking about a young gay solider he "hadn't technically met yet" but was in love with somehow. I'd chalked it up to just Klaus being Klaus, but then again, what did that mean anymore? I sure as hell didn't know, and didn't think I could pretend this was fifteen-year-old Klaus being a nuisance for the hell of it. That expression wasn't one of something trivial and overdramatic; it was of something real, something heartbreaking. Something haunting, to someone who had been actually haunted his entire life.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye, staring unblinking at the floor, and wondered if Klaus had ever genuinely tried therapy before. My guess was a solid no; Klaus had never even been able to admit he had a problem when we were teenagers, let alone that he needed help to fix it. He’d been to rehab numerous times, but rehab did nothing but encourage Klaus to be worse when he got out. I watched as he pulled on the chain around his neck every once in a while, squeezing whatever pendant was still balled into his fist with what seemed like desperation. I could see the veins in his hand when he did, he was holding it that tightly. 

I tentatively reached over, placing my hand over his, and Klaus jumped a bit in response, but didn't otherwise move. I kept my hand on his until he released his vise-like grip on the necklace, letting it swing back and bounce against his chest. I slid the charm closer to me, realizing it was a set of dog tags, and old ones, from the looks of them. I squinted to read the inscription, sort of expecting it to be Klaus' own name. 

"Who's David?" 

Klaus visibly flinched at the name, and I felt stupid for asking; the dog tags answered my question before I’d even asked it. David was Klaus’ soldier. I read the dates on them, blinking in confusion. The date of death was 1968, which was odd, considering we hadn’t been to 1968. Klaus had talked about the soldier as if he was alive in 1963, so how did Klaus already have his dog tags if he didn’t die for five more years? I was at a loss for how Klaus had these dog tags at all, actually. Unless he found them, but then that didn't make any sense, either. 

Klaus had closed his eyes after my question, and I wondered if he was choosing to do that instead of cry. I don’t know if he even realized, but his hands were shaking like leaves, his arms resting on his knees. I wanted to comfort him, but I’d tried comforting Klaus before; all he ever wanted was a drink. So i simply sat next to him, letting him process what he needed to at his own pace. Eventually, he leaned his head on my arm, and I reached up to card my fingers through his hair like I used to when we were kids. His hair was longer, and tangled from the hell we’d all been through in the last twenty-four hours, but I methodically worked the knots out until it hung, smooth and shiny, on one side of his head. I could feel Klaus’ breathing growing more normal as time passed, which was what I’d been going for. 

“Ready to talk about it?” I asked gently, and while Klaus tensed up immediately, he didn’t move his head. 

“Not really,” he finally muttered, but I’d take that over the blank silence I’d received before. I stayed quiet, and eventually, Klaus did what he always did, which was start spilling his guts in no order or coherence whatsoever. 

“I didn’t save him. I tried and I didn’t and I made things worse. Why do I always do that?” I figured he was talking about Ben, but as he went on, it became obvious that he wasn’t. “Ben told me not to meddle, and I didn’t listen, and now he’s not even here to rub it in my face.”

I patted his arm, hating that Klaus had to lose Ben all over again. “I’m sure he knows, wherever he is, that he was right. He always was the smartest Hargreeves.”

Klaus snorted, which wasn’t a laugh but was something, nonetheless. “I should’ve listened. We should’ve stayed in San Francisco and I never would have antagonized fucking Brian and maybe, just maybe, he never would’ve enlisted at all.”

I was back to being lost, but I didn’t ask Klaus again who David was. I just listened, because for the first time since our father had died in 2019 the first time around, we had time. We had nothing to do, no apocalypse to stop, no one to save. So I just sat and listened to my brother, who I’d been missing for more than just the last year. 

“Did you know I was sober for the last three years?”

I hadn’t. “Really?” Klaus nodded, lifting his head and running his hand over the side of his head where I’d fixed his hair. “Yep. Longest three years of life, I might add.”

I remembered him showing up to my house, so drunk he was barely conscious, not even three days ago. “What made you fall off the wagon?”

Klaus’ hands shook once more, and I knew it had to be something to do with this David. My guess was that he enlisted, but that didn’t tell me much, since that wasn’t in itself a death sentence. Only, maybe it was. 

“Klaus, I’ve gotta ask; who is David Katz? I know he's your soldier, but who is he?"

His hands froze. I reached forward, holding one of his between both of mine, and Klaus’ eyes flicked to me, wide and watery and vulnerable. I hated seeing Klaus like this, but I hated seeing him intoxicated more. I wanted to help, however I could, but I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know what was going on. 

Klaus took a few deep, shuddering breaths, and his voice was no more steady when he began to speak. “Yes, he’s the soldier. I met him in 1967, and we served together in the Vietnam war.” Seeming to feel my shock, Klaus gave a wry huff of a laugh. “Hazel and Cha Cha—remember them?—they had a briefcase. They tortured me after they broke into the house looking for Five, and I stole it when I got away. Ended up in Nam.” 

That was already more information than I had been expecting, and I had expected none of it to be that. But Kluas wasn’t finished, and I didn’t interrupt—he was explaining, and that’s all I had asked. 

“Anyway, I was there for ten months. Dave died in my arms after getting shot on hill 689, and so I have his dog tags. I stayed away from Dallas for three years because I knew that’s where Dave was, and he was supposed to enlist the day after JFK got shot. I was trying to stop him.”

I had to interrupt, then. “But Klaus, that would cause him to never meet y-”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Klaus snapped, pulling his hand from mine and turning to face me. “I had three years to think this over, Allison, and pardon my french, but I knew what the fuck I was doing.” His eyes were wide and angry, and I knew that he was sick of explaining this, to what I assumed had been Ben for years.

I stared back, nodding slightly, and Klaus nodded back, breaking his intense stare to look back at the floor. 

“I tried to talk to him, the day I came to your house. His asshole of an uncle was there, and it doesn’t matter why, but Dave punched me in the face. I couldn’t take it. I can’t take it. So no, I’m not going to try and be sober anymore. I did that for Dave, and he went that day and enlisted anyway because of his uncle, and because of me. I did that. I moved his death sentence up. He enlisted _because of me._ ”

I watched as tears hit the floor by Klaus’ leg, creating spots like rain on the smooth tile. I scooted forward, hugging him to me and letting him cry it out, finally, because he’d clearly been needing to for some time now. Sobs wracked his thin frame, and I held him tightly, crying with him. I’d lost things, people, in my life too, but I couldn’t think of anyone who’d lost as much, been through as much, as Klaus.

I leaned back, wiping the tears under Klaus’ eyes with the sleeves of my coat. “He didn’t enlist because of you, Klaus. And he may not have died; you might have changed the outcome. You might have saved him.”

Klaus shook his head, sniffling. “It doesn’t matter. I wanted him to live a normal life, be there with his mom and sisters and not have to deal with the shit we saw in Vietnam. It was horrible, Allison, and he regretted it so much.”

I smiled at Klaus, wiping at my own eyes. “But he didn’t regret meeting you, I'm sure of that. That Dave loved you, clearly, and you did all this for him. That matters, Klaus, even if it didn’t work out how you planned. Your Dave would have been so proud of you for trying to save him, even if that meant you two would never meet. You gave up all you had just to save his life.”

Klaus shrugged, but I could tell my words had stuck with him, even if he was refusing to admit it. He still seemed really upset, though, and I asked the question I’d been avoiding ever since we’d gotten here. 

“Are you okay? With Ben being gone?”

Klaus flinched again, and I knew that the worst of it wasn't over. Klaus had just lost two of the most important people in his life for the second time each in the last day, and I knew my brother. He wasn't getting over it just by talking to me. 

Klaus had stopped crying, but if anything, seemed more haunted by Ben's absence than Dave's. His eyes had lost the fiery light they'd had in them before, and he seemed hollow, his voice less lively than it had been sheer moments before. 

"He stayed with me for fifteen years just because he was scared of the unknown. He dealt with my shit every single day since his death and didn't leave. He could have at any point, but he didn't." 

I didn't know what to say. Klaus didn't seem angry, or sad, just sort of shell-shocked. I knew he must have thought he was keeping Ben with him somehow—hell, I would've thought that, too, except I hadn't even known Ben was still here until the day of the first apocalypse. Let alone for the entire last decade. I couldn't imagine losing Ben again; the first time was bad enough, and Klaus had to mourn him all over again. 

"He loved you, Klaus. He loved us all, and he saved the world. He saved Vanya." 

Klaus didn't look up or blink, staring at a spot on the floor to my left. His voice was barely more than a whisper, and it sent chills through my body, his tone was so defeated. "He shouldn't have had to."


	4. Vanya

When I’d volunteered to go tell Reginald we would cooperate, I saw the expressions on everyone’s faces before they were able to quickly hide them from my view. They weren’t quick enough, though; they all looked mildly horrified at the thought. I couldn’t really blame them, I supposed, since all they really knew about me was that I’d caused both apocalypses thus far. That was fair. What they didn’t know was what Ben had said to me, and how much it had meant that he gave up his entire being just to let me know that I wasn’t alone. Out of all five of them, Klaus and Allison probably knew me the best, and despite my relationship being better than it had ever been with all of them, I was still somewhat of a ticking time bomb in their eyes. That was also fair. I accepted that. 

But I also accepted that I was the one that needed to tell Reginald what our conditions were. Five couldn’t handle this much stress anymore, that much was obvious after he passed out cold within minutes of seeing we'd ruined the timeline. Luther had stepped down as our acting number one quite forcefully. I would have elected Ben as our go-to next in line for rational thinking, but since I couldn’t do that, I took it into my hands to speak for the group instead. I thought it would be a lot more meaningful coming from me, even though the longer I walked towards Reginald’s office, the more nervous I became. 

I had no intention of being polite as I approached the door to his office, but I knocked anyway, unable to shake my timid nature completely. I heard him call for me to enter, and as I did, I couldn’t quite mask my satisfaction of seeing the surprise on his face. 

“Well, well, of everyone to expect, who would have thought it would be you, my dear?”

I stood behind the chair in front of his desk, my chin raised. Reginald gestured for me to sit, and as I did, I kept my gaze locked with his, a challenge in both of our eyes. 

He blinked first. “Firstly, is your team going to cooperate with mine or not?”

“We are.” I noted the ever-so-slight breath he released, as if he had been anticipating this answer for a while. Interesting; so he did need us more than he let on. “Under our own conditions. But before I get to that, what was the stipulation you didn’t get the chance to tell us out there?”

Reginald smiled, and it was a cold, unpleasant thing. I had my memories of him again, but that didn’t mean I had ever gotten used to his chilling stare. I didn't think anyone ever could. “You will train, under my guidance and my team’s, until we deem you ready to join our forces. You are all unprepared, out of practice, and useless as you stand now.” The look he gave me was one of almost pity, and I held on to the heat it brought to my face, the anger it pulled from my heart. “You alone pose more of a hindrance as you are, more than anything else.”

I held his gaze as I raised my hand, lifting the sword I had seen as I walked in into the air, cleanly removing it from it's display on the wall. I spun it around a few times, watching as Reginald glared towards it, and gave him what I hoped was an equally icy smile. “As I was. Things are different now, as am I, and you will not treat me like you did before.”

Reginald took a long moment before nodding, once, and I returned the sword to where it had been with a flick of my fingers. I never broke eye contact, didn’t let my anger get the best of me, and I wished the others could have been here to see it. I thought they'd have been proud.

“I do not know how I previously treated you,” Reginald took back control of the conversation, which was fine by me. I’d run out of bold things to say for the moment. “But I can assure you, it was only for your benefit, and the benefit of the team.”

“You erased my memory and forced me to believe I was ordinary.” Reginald’s eyes widened almost indiscernibly. “You drugged me, kicked me out of the academy, and refused to acknowledge me for my entire childhood. I eventually got my powers back and remembered, but by then it was too late. I caused the end of the world.”

I knew I had shocked him into silence, but he recovered quickly, clearing his throat before speaking. “That is no direct fault of mine, as I am now, so we shall agree to leave it in your past in order to move forward. Yes?”

I so desperately wanted to argue, but knew it would do no good. This man was a class A narcissist who thought he could do no wrong, and there was no winning this. So I nodded, and Reginald seemed pleased, sitting back more comfortably in his chair. 

“Now go on, what are the conditions you seem to think so important for your team?”

These conditions were ones I'd made up myself, but I knew the others needed them as much as I did. "The first is that we take the weekend off to rest." Reginald immediately seemed to disagree with this, but I plowed on, not letting him interrupt. "We just stopped an apocalypse and a time-space organization from killing us, so no, we cannot jump right into training. Five alone has been running on fumes for weeks, so he's probably the most vulnurable of us all, as crazy as that is." 

Reginald did seem to agree with that, so I continued, my tone firm. A sound from my left caused me to break eye contact for a moment, but there was nothing there. I shook it off as nerves. "Secondly, we will not be a part of your 'team'. We'll train and help when you need us, but there will be no meals together, no curfew or whatever other rules your sparrow academy has now. We're all adults, and we don't report to you unless we are on the clock, so to say." 

I was starting to get the sense that Reginald wished we'd sent anybody else in here to negotiate. To be fair, anyone else might have had less demands, but I knew what my siblings wanted and needed. I always had; I'd watched them from afar our whole lives. I had nothing to do for sixteen years but look up to them, watch their every move and wish I was them. Now I was, and I wasn't about to let this man ruin their lives—our lives—all over again. 

"Anything else?" Reginald sounded tired, but I did have one last condition, and probably the most important. 

"Yes. You either train all of us, or none of us. That's it." 

Reginald raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" 

"If one of us have an issue, or hindrance, that is making training difficult, you can't cut them off and keep the rest of us. We're a team, and a package deal. So my advice is to think up ways around our various issues, since you were the primary cause of most of them." 

His facade was cracking, and Reginald seemed almost angry when he spoke again, although he also had a hint of admiration in his tone, as if he was impressed by my demands. 

"That is absurd, but I will accept it. For now. I will be harsh during training, however, as I was with my own team. They turned out quite adequate, unlike the lot of you. So I will do my best to prepare what was broken by an other me. If you will." 

I suppressed an eye roll. I knew the ones Reginald was concerned about, notebly myself, Klaus, Diego, and Luther. We were either appearing too useless to him or too volatile, but either way, I didn't care. We voted in the foyer to stay and help, and we would all be included in that deal. We'd been split up and pitted against each other for far too much of our lives. 

Reginald cleared his throat, and I nodded for him to go ahead, knowing already I wasn't going to like what he had to say. The hatred was mutual.

"Are those all of your demands?" I nodded. "Splendid. Now here are my rules." Reginald stared hard at me, watching my expression closely through his monocle. "You will all be trained. But you will be trained separately." 

I tried not to change my expression, but he seemed to know I wanted to put up a fight. His cold, smug expression was back, and if I hadn't decided I hated this man before, I would have now. 

"You may sit in on the others' sessions, but you will remain quiet, a nonparticipant. If any of you break this rule, there will be consequences. You will not tell me how to train your team; that is at my creative liberty and at my team's alone." I felt it, my eye twitch, and he saw it, but chose to ignore it. "You will listen to me when I give commands, and my team takes rank over yours. Are we clear?" 

Every cell in my body wanted to destroy this man, but I gave one curt nod, standing and turning to leave. Reginald called after me, and I stopped, not turning back around. 

"Vanya, is it?" 

"Yes." 

I could feel Reginald's gaze boring a hole in my back. "Thank you for speaking with me today. I look forward to working with you." 

I let the door slam behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of my favorite chapters to write so I hope you guys like it! Let me know in the comments how you're feeling about this fic, and what you'd like to see in it! (and don't worry, the other sibling pov's are coming soon!)


	5. Diego

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was super fun for me to write, so I hope you all enjoy it! Also, thank you for your kind words so far—they always make me smile!

I hated doing nothing. Hated it more than anything else in the world. Getting thrown out of the house by Allison had hurt all of our egos, so here we were, sitting out on the porch like a bunch of misbehaving dogs. Well, they were sitting; I was pacing around and itching for one of my confiscated knives. 

Finally, I'd had enough, and started stomping across the lawn, towards the back side of the house. We were in the inner garden right now, but I knew where our father's study was located. I'd seen the floorplans, after all, back in our 2019. 

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Five called after me, appearing directly in front of me seconds later. I'd never thought I'd want to hit a kid, but Five invoked a rage in me that I didn't like to think about. I'd thought only Luther could piss me off this much, but I was wrong; Five could do this for a living. I stepped around him, resisting the urge to run him right over.

"I am going to see what Vanya is saying to our dear old dad. Care to join?" I kept stalking across the lawn, and Five popped in front of me once more, causing me to nearly trip over him this time.

"STOP IT!" I yelled, and Luther finally caught up to us, grabbing my shoulder before I could swing a punch at Five. And I might have, too; I'd never gotten a chance to smack that smug look off his face when we were kids, and he clearly needed to be knocked off that pedestal he was still on. 

"Hey, hey, this is exactly why Allison sent us out here. You two stop it." Five and I glared each other down, and to an outsider, we probably looked absurd. I looked shaggy and probably sort of crazy, and Five literally looked twelve, despite his fighting stance and clearly calculated look. And Luther was being the voice of reason. This whole timeline was already fucked. 

I kept walking, and heard Luther hold Five off a bit behind me. They followed, which was fine by me, as long as I got to that damn window without Five getting in my way. 

I crouched down once we got close enough, waving for them to shut up as we did. I could hear murmuring from inside, and reached up, hoping the window was unlocked. It was; apparently this Reginald didn't lock nearly enough of his many windows, either. I felt around for the seal, pushing up with one hand until I felt it give ever-so-slightly. That was enough, and Vanya's voice floated out to us, shockingly forceful for our sister's usually timid tone. 

"...So no, we cannot jump right into training. Five alone has been running on fumes for weeks, so he's probably the most vulnurable of us all, as crazy as that is."

I glanced at Five, who lowered his head and scratched the back of his neck. He was clearly uncomfortable, and I almost felt bad that he had to hear that. If it were me, my pride would have been destroyed by Vanya of all people being the one to defend me. Even if she was completely right. 

"Second, we will not be a part of your 'team'. We'll train and help when you need us, but there will be no meals together, no curfew or whatever other rules your sparrow academy has now. We're all adults, and we don't report to you unless we are on the clock, so to say." 

I turned a wide-eyed stare to Luther, mouthing _is she crazy?_ Luther shrugged, seeming as surprised as I was to hear Vanya standing up to our father, but Five had a tiny smile on his face, staring at the window now and nodding. I focused on Vanya's voice once more, wishing that I could see Reginald's face right now. He must have been livid. 

"...making training difficult, you can't cut them off and keep the rest of us. We're a team, and a package deal. So my advice is to think up ways around our various issues, since you were the primary cause of most of them." 

I opened my mouth, muffling my shocked laughter, and Five was full-on grinning now, elbowing Luther into laughing with us. I would pay money at this point to see how Vanya was looking our our father, because if she looked half as fierce as she sounded, it must've been a sight to see. 

Reginald was speaking now, and we all sobered up pretty fast. He sounded downright pissed, and we all knew that tone; it'd been used on us every time we'd messed up as kids. Which was, in Reginald's opinion, most of the time.

"...absurd, but I will accept it. For now. I will be harsh during training, however, as I was with my own team. They turned out quite adequate, unlike the lot of you. So I will do my best to prepare what was broken by an other me. If you will." 

If I hadn't thought it would get us all killed by his other team, I would have busted through that window right then and there and kicked Reginald's ass. To say that to Vanya, of all people, was downright cruel of our father, and didn't surprise any of us one bit. Luther was glaring stonily at the window, and Five's smile was gone, but we'd all expected it. 

"Now here are my rules. You will all be trained. But you will be trained separately. You may sit in on the other's sessions, but you will remain quiet, a nonparticipant. If any of you break this rule, there will be consequences. You will not tell me how to train your team; that is at my creative liberty and at my team's alone. You will listen to me when I give commands, and my team takes rank over yours. Are we clear?" 

" _That asshole_ ," Luther hissed, and Five and I both gave him looks that could kill. He was right, of course; Reginald was being a complete dick to Vanya, and probably hitting about a million nerves with the training thing, but that's something I didn't want to think about. I couldn't believe how quiet Vanya was being; I would have left at a dozen points by now. 

"Vanya, is it?" 

Luther, Five, and I held our breath, collectively waiting for Vanya to explode. 

"Thank you for speaking with me today. I look forward to working with you." 

My jaw dropped at his audacity, and we heard the door to the study slam shut, followed by a thick silence. Vanya had really just walked out without another word. 

I waved for the others to follow me, and we kept low until we rounded the corner, standing up once more and making a mad dash across the lawn. Reginald had a tendency to gaze out that window when he was in thought, and I knew we had a limited amount of time to get back to the front of the inner grounds before he caught a glimpse of us. 

Finally, we rounded the last corner, collapsing in a heap of disbelieving exclamations and terrified laughter. 

"She did _not_ -" 

"I can't believe he didn't kill her on sight!" 

"I can't believe _she_ didn't kill _him_ on sight!" 

We were all still laughing when Allison opened the front door, raising an eyebrow at the three of us in amused distaste. 

"I guess I'll take this weird energy over you guys fighting with each other. Come on, Vanya's back." 

We all exchanged looks. "No one says anything," I mimed zipping my lips, and Luther and Five nodded. Allison led us back to the foyer, where Vanya was sitting next to Klaus, smiling as she gently spoke to him. She stood up when we all walked in, looking nervous, and I wondered how I'd ever be able to look at my sister the same after hearing her hand Reginald his ass on a silver platter. Maybe that was a good thing; I'd only ever viewed Vanya as weak and useless before, after all. 

"So," Vanya appraised us all, and I gave her an encouraging smile, which she returned. "I told him we'd help, but he says we need training. We start Monday. We have to do it separately, but we can sit in on each other's training sessions." Vanya looked at Five, who nodded, arms crossed over his chest. "We can't say anything, though. He was very adamant about making sure we knew that if we broke that rule, there would be consequences." 

"He wants to train us again?" Allison was obviously upset, and I wondered if the three of us eavesdroppers should have feigned more surprise at what Vanya was saying. We were all just being uncharacteristically quiet, and I hoped she didn't notice too much. 

"Yeah, he says we're 'unprepared' and pretty much useless to him as we stand." Five looked away, and Vanya frowned a little, giving him a curious look. "We have the weekend to ourselves, though. So that's something." 

We all turned as we heard footsteps approaching, not expecting to see Grace round the corner, smiling at us all. "Welcome to the Sparrow Academy! We're very excited to welcome you to our home. I'm Grace, and-" 

Five interrupted her, and my brief moment of sibling bonding with him evaporated into my overall annoyance with him as a person. 

"Where will we be sleeping?" Five started walking in the direction of the east wing, where the guest bedrooms were. Or, were when we lived here. 

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. It'll be the other direction. A few rooms up there have been made up for all of you, and dinner will be at six tonight, if you would like to join-" 

Five pivoted and started walking the other direction, brushing past Grace without so much as a glance. "Won't be able to attend, sorry." 

Grace's face immediately fell, and I wished I could glimpse the inside of Five's mind. Maybe then I'd be able to figure out why he felt the need to be such an inconsolable asshole to everyone who so much as smiled at him. I smiled at Grace, who didn't hesitate to smile back, and tried to remember that this wasn't my mom. This wasn't even the woman I'd met in the 60's, who our mother had been modeled after. That didn't change her smile, though, and I associated that smile with the only semblance of kindness I'd been shown for half of my life. 

"I'd love to come," I smiled as she lit up, ignoring Luther, Allison, and Vanya's incredulous stares. "It's at six?" 

Grace nodded. "Yes, six 'o clock sharp! Would any of you like to come?" 

I glared at my siblings, willing at least one of them to say yes. I knew they'd rather do anything else, but they also knew how much Grace meant to me. The only one who didn't react was Klaus, who was being so uncharacteristically quiet it was sort of creeping me out. He didn't even seem to be paying attention, and if I didn't know better, I'd say he was wasted. I made a mental note to ask him what the hell was the matter with him later, and turned back to Grace, whose smile was slowly fading as each of my siblings avoided her gaze. I'd all but given up hope when Vanya spoke up, and I decided right then and there that she was my favorite sibling out of all of them.

Vanya's smile was forced, but Grace returned it wholeheartedly. "Grace, I'd be happy to come. Klaus, Allison, and Luther have some things to do, but Diego and I will be there at six. Sharp." 

"Fantastic!" Grace clapped her hands, giving us all another warm smile before turning away. "I can't wait to see you two later, then!" We all waved, and once she'd left the room, I walked right up to Vanya and hugged her, hearing her surprised laugh against my chest. 

"Thanks," I whispered, squeezing her briefly before stepping back. She just smiled, clearly embarrassed, but she knew it meant the world to me.


	6. Klaus

I knew Allison had been trying to help. I knew the others were just being themselves, dealing with this insanity the only way they knew how. I knew I wasn’t making anything better. But did I ever? If I was being honest, I was well beyond sick of how I was treated by my siblings. They had no excuse; they saw what Reginald did, they knew what my power was, and they still chose to ignore me at best or full-on belittle me at worst. I’d lost Dave again, lost Ben again, and now here we were in this weird twilight zone timeline and I was at the end of my rope. I hadn’t had a drink in days, and had barely had time to acknowledge that I’d had two ghosts physically catch me the day before, so yeah, I was more than a little on edge.

Allison had stayed with me, though, and that counted for something. I think she knew that if she didn’t, I’d have found every alcoholic beverage in this house by now. She was probably right. It took everything in me not to bust out laughing when Vanya told us that Reginald wanted to train us, because it was just our childhood all over again. Except now, I was angry and bitter and without a purpose, and I was about to make it everyone else's problem.

I was also about to sock Diego in the face if he kept giving me that side-eye. 

After Grace left, we broke up our little meeting, with Vanya and Luther heading upstairs and Allison and Diego talking in hushed tones a few feet away from me. I could tell Diego was fixing to head my way, so I got up, walking aimlessly towards the front door. I didn't know where I was going, I had no money, nowhere to go, but I knew I didn't want to have another heart to heart with one of my siblings. 

I was almost to the door when I felt Diego's hand grab my arm, and almost without thinking, I turned around, twisting it away from me and causing him to cry out in surprise. I hadn't even realized I'd done it until Allison smacked my arm, looking at me like I was crazy. Hell, maybe I was. 

"Jeeze, dude, I was just gonna ask what was wrong with you, but clearly you're just being a dick." Diego rubbed his shoulder, shrugging when Allison smacked him, too. "He is." 

"He's grieving." Allison stood closer to me, and I wished I could thank her for being so protective, I really did. But I couldn't seem to speak at all, and just looked at the floor when Diego tried to catch my eye. I hadn't meant to hurt him, and I was sorry, but again, no words would form. I felt as if my head was full of cotton. He gave a disbelieving snort, pushing past me to go outside, and I closed my eyes, expecting Allison to reprimand me. But she didn't; instead, she grabbed my arm, lightly tugging it until I followed her. It was also amusing to me, in a morbid way, that our old bedrooms would now be our guest rooms. Allison led me to what would have been hers, and I wondered if it was muscle memory alone that led her to choose that door. Four other rooms were open, and she chose her own personally appointed hell from our youth. 

She pushed me into a seated position on the bed, and crouched down to look me straight in the eye. I tried smiling at her, but didn't want to think about how that turned out. 

"Klaus, I think you're in shock. You've been shaking since we got here, and you're sweating." I only then noticed how cold I was, how numb my fingers felt. I cracked my knuckles a few times, wiggling my fingers to try and make the tingling go away. Allison walked back out into the hall, and a few moments later, I heard the water start running in the bathroom. I didn't want to move again, but Allison came back, pulling me to my feet and raising her eyebrows at me. I shook my head, not budging, and Allison gave me a little smile, squeezing my hand in hers. 

"I'm gonna count to three, okay? And then we're gonna walk. Ready?" 

I forced myself to take a deep breath, nodding as much as I could manage. I felt like an elephant was standing on my chest, anchoring me to this spot, making it hard to breathe. I focused on Allison, who seemed so calm amidst all my internal turmoil, and nodded again. She nodded back, counting down slowly and calmly. It was only times like these that I remembered that Allison, for all intents and purposes, was still technically a mother. 

"Okay, one. Two." She squeezed my hand with each number, not breaking eye contact. "Three." 

It seemed like a million miles to the bathroom, but once we got there, I let myself relax ever-so-slightly. Allison smiled, turning the faucet off and kneeling in front of me once more. 

"Do you think you can get in the tub? I'll come back in once you're in, but no offense, I don't want to see you naked." Allison wrinkled her nose, and I actually smiled, which seemed to be enough for her. She didn't close the door all the way, so I could still see her shadow outside in the hall. That comforted me, and I undressed, sliding into the familiar tub and letting the bubbles rise to my face. Allison must've heard my sigh, as she peeked around the corner, coming back in and lowering the toilet seat cover so she could sit down. She didn't say anything for a while, and I appreciated the silence. I was more than a little embarrassed at my state, but that didn't make breathing any easier, didn't make the tightness in my chest go away. I was warming up slightly, though, and I realized that must've been Allison's plan all along. 

"Hey, Allison?" 

She looked up, raising her eyebrows at the sound of my voice. 

"Thank you." 

Allison smiled, searching my face. "Y'know, I can hold those if you want." 

I didn't know what she meant until I realized I was still wearing the dog tags. My hand trembled as I raised it to the chain, and I froze once more, my breath catching. Allison immediately noticed, and shook her head. "It's okay. I was just offering." 

I let out the breath I'd been holding, letting the tags fall back against my chest, splashing the water. Allison still looked worried, and I wished she wouldn't; worrying led to questions that I just didn't have answers to. 

"So you really fought in Vietnam?" 

She was studying the tattoo on my left bicep, and I flexed it, getting her to giggle a bit. "Yeah," I answered quietly, and while my voice was too soft and quivering, at least I was able to speak again. "It was horrible." 

Allison nodded, taking my word for it. "Was Ben there with you?" 

I rubbed at my face to hide the pain I knew was in my eyes. "No. To him I guess it seemed like I was only gone a few minutes. For me it was ten months. I thought I'd lost him." I dunked my head under water, wetting my hair, and came back up, shrugging off my dark thoughts with the bubbles. "I was high, though, so I guess it just didn't seem like the biggest deal in the world right then." 

Once again, Allison seemed to know me better than I knew myself, and leaned forward, giving me an intense warning look. "Klaus, that's not a good thing, okay? You were blocking it out, and part of you knew he wasn't really gone. This is different, _you're_ different." 

I snorted in disdain. "Yeah, I'm somehow more screwed up now than I was before. Didn't think that could even happen, but alas. Plus, I'm not high." I had to bite my tongue to keep from adding _yet._

Allison was frowning, but didn't argue with me. I could tell she wanted to, but she kept quiet, letting me close my eyes and sink further into the bath. I couldn't relax, though, because Allison's thoughts were loud and I could practically hear them. 

"You don't have to stay, Ally. I'll be fine. Always am." I forced another smile when she glanced up at me, clearly not trusting my words for a second. I didn't blame her; it sounded forced, even to me. 

"Do you promise to come to my room when you're done?" 

I nodded enthusiastically, keeping the smile on until she'd shut the door behind her. The second she was out of sight, my face fell, and I stared at a spot on the wall in front of me, forcing myself to zone out and disassociate. There were ghosts here, too, and I didn't want to see or hear any of them. There were only two ghosts I cared about, and they were both gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, my first of many rightfully angry Klaus chapters! I've heard on some interviews that Rob said Klaus will be dealing with his grief in some very different ways in s3, and this is my interpretation on the start of how he finally reaches his limit on being the happy-go-lucky sibling. I hope you all like this, and feel free to send me a comment to let me know how you're feeling about this fic! (loving the comments so far, they never fail to make me smile!😁)


	7. Luther

Eavesdropping had never been my particular thing in the past, but I was making quite a habit of it already in this new timeline. I had only meant to check on Allison and Klaus, since Klaus was acting so weird and Allison was very clearly hovering around him for some reason. I accidentally figured out what the reason was, since right when I'd walked up, Allison had asked Klaus if he had fought in Vietnam. 

I knew the Vietnam war was in the sixties, but was it really early sixties? And how had Klaus gotten drafted, if he hadn't technically existed for the last three years? Time travel was weird, but it just kept getting weirder. I'd also never been the best at history, but this wasn't adding up either way. 

I didn't have the chance to get out of the way before Allison opened the door, and the second she saw me, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

"You heard all that, didn't you?" She was whispering, waving me down the hall to where her room would have been. I followed her, keeping quiet until we were out of earshot of the bathroom. 

"He went to Vietnam?" 

Allison shushed me, but nodded. "Yeah, and he fell in love there, too. And the soldier died, which was what he was trying to stop the last few days." 

I blinked, beyond confused now. "Wait. How would he have stopped it? If it already happened?" 

"What?" Allison's eyes widened, and she sighed, sitting on the bed with a huff. "Oh, sorry. No. Back in 2019—our 2019—he stole a briefcase and accidentally ended up in Vietnam in 1967. For almost a year."

Time travel really didn't make any sense, so I just shrugged, not thinking too hard about it. I had learned not to question things too much in the past year, and honestly, I was better for it. Some things were just better left unknown, I'd discovered. It was a piece of wisdom I so wished I could give my younger self; it could have saved me so much grief as a child, as a younger adult, even. 

"God, that must have been awful. I didn't even know they let women in the war back then…" My voice trailed off at Allison's amused, slightly surprised look. She had her eyebrows raised for almost a full minute before I caught on, feeling my face flush. "Oh. Oh! That makes more sense, actually. So was he trying to, I dunno, stop the guy from enlisting?" 

Allison sighed again, pressing her palms against her eyelids. "Yeah, something like that. The guy didn't listen, though, and just enlisted earlier than he was supposed to. So not only did Klaus not save him-" 

"He basically made him enlist." 

Allison nodded. "He's completely shattered, Luther, and with Ben now also being gone…" We both lowered our gazes, letting the silence speak volumes. I couldn't imagine losing Ben again, let alone now, and wondered how Klaus could ever handle that. He hadn't really handled it the first time, either, if I was being honest.

"I don't know what he's going to do." Allison's head was in her hands, and I stepped forward, carefully sitting next to her and patting her shoulder. She cared so much about our brother—she always had, even as kids—and I could tell this was tearing her up, not being able to help. I wanted to hug her, but I was also wary of giving her the wrong impression. We had a weird, semi-fixed relationship, and she'd also just lost her husband, so. I wasn't overstepping any boundaries right this minute, if I could help it. 

"Well, could you, I don't know. Maybe rumor him?" Allison's eyes snapped to mine, and I immediately held my hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I just meant, maybe you could make him forget? About the soldier, maybe, just a little?" 

Allison gave me a withering stare. "I will never rumor another one of our siblings again, Luther. It has only ever ended badly." When I nodded, Allison relaxed a little, although she was clearly still upset. "Besides, he doesn't want to forget anyway, I don't think. He was seriously in love, Luther. He seems… haunted." It would have been a more amusingly ironic term, if it weren't for who we were talking about. I'd seen Klaus in the foyer; haunted was a perfect way to describe how he'd looked. 

"Couldn't that just be a response to Ben, too, though?" 

Allison shrugged. "Could be. I think it's both, honestly, but I don't know if he can get past this, if I'm being real. Did you know he'd been sober for three years, before the other day?" 

I hadn't, and the news shocked me. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Klaus fully sober, or even moderately sober, at that. We never took him seriously because every time he had said anything to us, for the past decade, it had been a means to an end. And the end was always more booze, more drugs, or more money for booze or drugs. 

"That's crazy. What made him fall off the wagon?" And then I immediately realized it must have been the soldier. "Wait, wait. So you're telling me Klaus went to Vietnam for a year, three years ago, and then spent the last three years sober, just so he could convince the guy not to go die in the war they met in?" Allison's face confirmed my questions, and I shook my head, more than a little impressed. "Our Klaus did this?" 

Allison laughed, and God how I'd missed her laugh. It was loud and bright and happy and hadn't changed a bit since we were little, despite everything else changing in a million different ways.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too. Must've been some soldier, to keep Klaus tied down and determined enough to give up drugs." 

I agreed, and a part of me wondered why Klaus hadn't told any of the rest of us this information. Or if he had, why the others hadn't told me. Not that I'd ever treated Klaus particularly well—he bothered me the most when we were little, and I used to think his power was so cool compared to mine, so complex. I realized later that Klaus actually had one of the worst out of all seven of us. I'd gotten off easy; I couldn't imagine what Klaus went through on any given day. 

It dawned on me that Klaus had been the one to come after me in that nightclub, back during the first apocalypse. If he'd already been at war, the lights and the noise probably made him a nervous wreck, let alone all the drugs we were surrounded by. I felt like shit thinking about that night, since I had not only blown Klaus off completely, I'd gotten violent with him, as well. No wonder he didn't tell me shit; I wouldn't either, if I were him. 

I knew I needed to talk to Klaus, at some point, but apparently he had enough problems right now as it was, without me interfering. I studied Allison instead, and she didn't look too great herself. I realized that out of the six of us, Five and I had the least to lose by leaving the sixties. The thing was, Five had been there for a week; I had been there for a whole year. If I thought about that fact too hard, I knew it would only depress me, so again, I focused on Allison instead. 

"Hey. How are you doing? With all of this?" 

Allison laughed, a little breathlessly, and shrugged, holding her arms tight against her. "I lost Claire, three years ago, and I'm still not over her. Is it going to be the same with Raymond? Am I never going to stop leaving the people I love most behind?" 

I hugged her a little to me, then, because there was nothing I could say to help. I knew that, and Allison knew that, and we sat like that for a while, in a room that looked more like a hotel room than Allison's childhood bedroom. We broke apart when we heard footsteps approaching, and Klaus walked in, barely acknowledging me as he stood in the doorway. I took that as my cue to leave, and smiled at Allison, knowing she'd be okay because she was always the emotionally strongest out of us all. I paused when I reached Klaus, barely touching his arm but letting my hand linger there for a few moments. 

"I'm sorry. For everything," I whispered, brushing past him before I could make a mess out of things again. I didn't see how he reacted, and I didn't much care, so long as he heard me. It wasn't the apology he deserved, but it was all I could give him at the moment, and I hoped it helped, even a little bit. 

I didn't want to help our father's new team, but I would, because I could never leave my siblings. We were a mess, but we were family all the same.


	8. Five

It was humiliating to hear what Vanya said to Reginald, about me being the most vulnerable. It didn't make it untrue; I just hated that Luther and Diego had to hear it, too. I decided to make myself scarce before Vanya caught on to me, and didn't really care that Diego was very obviously fuming at how cold I was to Grace. She wasn't our Grace, and had no ties to us at all. She was being polite because that's what she was programmed to do, and Diego was stupid if he was seeing anything more in it. 

It was almost funny how automatically I headed towards my old room, how my feet propelled me in that direction on their own. I didn't have ties to that room, and I knew it wasn't really my room, anyway, but I ended up standing in it nonetheless. I stared at the blank walls, devoid of any trace of scribbles or equations, at the bed that wasn't mine, and wondered if any part of my life would ever be normal again. 

_Not likely_ I thought wryly. 

I turned around at a knock on my door, and almost cursed out loud when I saw Vanya. She was suppressing a smile, and I realized she had me cornered. Technically. I could always jump anywhere else in the house, but even I thought that would be rude. 

"Oh, hi." I acted like I was inspecting the room, doing anything I could to avoid her gaze, but I knew I was busted. Vanya crossed her arms, leaning on the doorframe, and watched me as I nervously paced around the room. I was admitting guilt just by how adamantly I was avoiding her, and we both knew it. 

"The window?" Vanya smirked when I looked up, but she didn't seem mad. "I heard a noise. I knew it wasn't nothing." 

"That was actually Diego," I leaned against the windowsill, facing her fully now. "But yes, I was there too. And Luther." 

Vanya nodded, still smiling. "Did you enjoy the show?" 

I smiled then, too. "I did actually. You did a great job. Really pissed the old man off, it seemed." 

"That was the intended goal." Vanya mock-bowed, and I chuckled, scratching my neck. We both knew I was leaving something unsaid, but I wasn't ready to face that humiliation quite yet. Vanya, however, seemed to suddenly be the most forward person in this family. 

"I'm sorry, about what I said. If it hurt you. I was just—" 

I held up a hand, stopping her before she could apologize any more. "Don't. I actually wanted to thank you, for that. For, you know." I hated this feelings shit so much, but if anyone deserved to hear it, it was Vanya. "For standing up for me. Looking out for me. I appreciate it."

Vanya dipped her head, smiling, and before she could say anything else, I pressed on, just like I always did. I always had the rip the band-aid off, orange juice after brushing your teeth, salt in the wound approach; I'd never learn, it seemed. "The training, though, it won't go over well. You know that." 

The tone had turned somber, and Vanya frowned, seeming grim. "I do know, but if we stick together, if we come at this from a different angle..." I was already shaking my head. "It could work, Five. We could do something that matters. For once." 

I wished I could join in her optimistic attitude, but I knew us too well. Vanya did, too, despite never having been present during training exercises before. "Reginald will train us the same way he did when we were kids, only worse. Do you think Diego is going to be able to handle his beratement? Do you think Klaus is going to sit in a tomb ever again? What about Luther?" Vanya pursed her lips, not liking what I was saying but not disagreeing. She knew I was right, and as much as I hated it, I was right more frequently than I was wrong. 

"What about his Sparrow Academy people?" I looked up, and Vanya still seemed determined. Her jaw was set, and I wondered what happened in that month she was in Dallas that changed her so fundamentally as a person. The old Vanya would never have been this stubborn. Or maybe she would have, if she hadn't been drugged and brainwashed her whole life. I realized that maybe I didn't know my sister as well as I'd thought, after all. 

She pressed on, her voice rising as she tried to get me to see her point. "No offense, but they are all alive, and they live here voluntarily, as adults. Maybe he changed something in training, or maybe they'll do most of the training anyway, and we can all learn something. It's not impossible." 

"But it isn't probable," I gently reminded her, and she sighed, leaning back against the doorframe with a huff. We weren't going to agree on this, that much was clear, but it didn't really matter either way. In three days our training would start, whether we liked it or not, and we'd see who was right then. 

For now, Vanya gave me a knowing glance, putting aside her frustration to smile gently at me. "You need to get some rest if you're not going to dinner tonight. You haven't slept in weeks." 

"Are you going to dinner?" I ignored her observation fully, sitting on the bed and making no move to look like I was going to sleep. Her disapproval was obvious, but she shrugged, knowing I disapproved of what she was doing just as much. 

"That's not wise, in my opinion, Vanya. It's a mess waiting to happen." 

"I'm doing it for Diego," she countered, once more standing her ground and not backing down. I respected that, though I did not respect her reasoning. "He can't face Reginald alone." 

"Exactly!" I laughed humorlessly, laying back on the bed with a huff. Vanya sat on the floor, knowing she was in for an earful and getting comfortable. "What makes you think he'll be able to face him during actual training? You can't be there for all of us, all the time." 

"I can try." 

I laughed, because I knew she absolutely would. Vanya had always tried to make an effort, at least from what I could remember—she took care of us when we were sick, she gave us stickers on bad days when Hargreeves would call us useless. She made me peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches even after I disappeared, and I only knew that much because I'd read her book. She used to compliment us when she'd watch our training, and comfort us if we didn't do a good job. Vanya had always been there, even when she had been excluded completely from the academy itself. 

Vanya squinted at me, pretending to be upset that I'd laughed. She wasn't doing a very good job, though, since it had been a genuine laugh and those were few and far between with me. 

"Hey Vanya?" 

"Mm?" 

I stared up at the ceiling, counting the spots on the popcorn-like texture. "Do you have a favorite memory from when we were kids, but after I disappeared?" 

I could feel Vanya staring, but I kept counting, waiting for her to tell me. She finally sighed, and I heard her shift around, trying to get more comfortable on the wooden floor. 

"Yeah, I guess. Want me to tell you about it?" 

"Yep," I grinned in her direction, encouraging her, and returned my gaze to the ceiling as she began speaking. 

"Our 15th birthday was a lot of fun. Klaus was in trouble with dad, as always, but this time he was grounded. So we couldn't do the normal birthday cake thing with him, since he was confined to his room for the weekend." 

I smiled, imagining what Klaus mst've done for Reginald to ground him. He hadn't grounded any of us before, so I wasn't even sure what that meant in this house. 

"We made him his own little cake and snuck it up to him that night, and we all watched the new Saw movie and ate popcorn in Luther's room. Reginald had to have known, but didn't bust us, and half of us didn't sleep for days after that movie. The only ones who didn't seem scared were Klaus and Ben, which in retrospect really isn't surprising, but still. Gross movie." 

I had rapidly started drifting to sleep, and I didn't move as I heard Vanya stand up, doing her best to be quiet. I felt a blanket settle around me a moment later, and Vanya's hands as she tucked the edges in, barely jostling me at all. The light clicked off, and I was so exhausted that I surrendered to sleep, hearing the door shut gently behind Vanya as she left.


	9. Vanya

I hadn't wanted to go to dinner. Actually, I had _viscerally not_ wanted to go, but I couldn't let Diego go alone. Reginald would kill him just by spite alone. Five didn't seem to get that, and that was fine; I didn't care what anyone else thought of my actions anymore. I trusted my gut, and my heart, and so I walked with Diego down the long hall to the dining room, walking near enough to him that I could feel him tremble every other step. We could hear voices, and that alone was a foreign concept, since we'd never been allowed to talk during meals. I glanced at Diego, who was slowing down quite a bit, and touched his arm. "You okay?" I asked. 

Diego sighed, shrugging and speeding up some, obviously not wanting to talk about it. I didn't blame him; our father had always treated Diego terribly, and that was coming from me, the black sheep of the family. It made it worse that Diego had a speech impediment, since Reginald had always exploited that as yet another way to belittle him as a child. He'd treated Diego as if it were his fault that he stuttered, whereas Mom had helped tremendously by the simple act of being encouraging. Was that what Reginald had done with this batch of kids? Treated them like actual people, instead of machines built to kill? Were these more like his actual kids, versus test subjects treated like real-life action figures for their whole lives? 

We were about to find out. I heard Diego suck in a huge breath right as we rounded the corner, and as soon as we did, all the talking ceased at once. It was like we'd taken the air right out of the room, and as uncomfortable as I felt, I couldn't help but crack an awkward smile. The situation was a little funny. "Well, hello to you all, too." 

Diego choked back a laugh, and I tried to conceal my grin, loving the appalled look on Reginald's face. I took it that he didn't think we'd be coming tonight, and that made it all the better when Grace embraced us both, ushering us to our seats. We sat down, nodding at the people beside us, and actually got a smile out of one or two of them. 

Reginald recovered quickly, clearing his throat as he nodded to us. "Yes, hello. Diego, Vanya, meet the Sparrow Academy." 

Seven sets of guarded eyes sized us up, and I smiled, waving. "Hi, I'm Vanya. Number seven. This is Diego, number two." 

To my surprise, none of them really reacted to that. The girl who'd rumored Five earlier did snicker, and I turned to look at her, feeling a little dizzy. If this meant what I thought it did—

"We don't, uh, do a ranking system here. We're all pretty powerful. But it's cute that you're so low-ranked. It must be the volatility." 

I mimicked her too-sweet smile, wanting to strangle her. I could have, oh-so-easily, but I also didn't want to ruin this entire meal already. She focused on Diego now, smirking. "And you," she eyed Diego, taking her time in making him squirm, and tsked as she did. "Number two? Don't you just throw knives or something?" 

Snickers encircled us, and Diego's hand was clenched in a fist beneath the table. "I can also, I can b-bend the tra-tra…" No one spoke, and the girl raised an eyebrow, clearly satisfied. 

"That's what I thought." She looked back to me, her eyes piercing right through me, and I sort of hated her right then. "You'll be fun to train, though. I like a challenge." 

I forced myself not to react, taking a sip of my water before speaking. "I'm sure I will be. He couldn't do it in my timeline," I raised my glass to Reginald, who was boring a hole through me with his eyes. "So he drugged and brainwashed me for my whole life. I don't really know what I'm capable of." I shrugged with fake nonchalance, taking another sip. "Neither does he," I elbowed Diego playfully, and he smiled, only at me. "Since our father never really bothered to tap into his potential. He can curve the trajectory of objects, apparently, but our Reginald Hargreeves never figured that out. Even with fifteen years of 'training', torture, whatever you guys call it." 

I beamed at all of them, who were all in turn glaring at me in spite, and I could tell Diego was trying and failing to conceal his own smile. I poked at my food with my fork, studying two of the other Sparrow Academy members in curiosity. I was looking particularly at this alternate-Ben, who I'd been all but ignoring ever since we got here. He gave me the creeps; he looked like Ben, if Ben had ever tried to kill me with his glare. I then turned to a girl who had avoided my gaze each time I focused it on her, who hadn't laughed or snickered or whispered since we'd arrived. She was looking at me now, though, and she seemed… scared. I lowered my voice a bit, smiling at her instead. "What can you do?" 

The rumor girl interjected once more, and I couldn't suppress my eyeroll. "None of your business, that's what." 

Reginald interrupted our staring contest with a sigh, waving away our nonsense. "We will get around to more formal introductions on Monday, when training begins. Until then, this will be a pleasant dinner, and no special abilities are to be discussed from henceforth on. Is that understood?" 

Everyone nodded except for me, but I didn't fight it. I ate my food in silence for a while, studying our new teammates as much as I could while we were here. They were an interesting bunch, especially considering they were the bad versions of us. Or the good versions, depending on how you looked at it. None of them argued, each one sitting up straight and eating dinner respectfully. Given, they were adults, and we'd been children at this table, but still. Adult us couldn't sit still for an entire meal if we were paid or held at gunpoint. 

I so hated awkward silences, though, so I smiled at the girl who'd been glaring at me this whole time, trying to bridge the growing trench between us. "I play violin. Do you guys have any hobbies?" 

Reginald's fork scraped noisely against his plate, but I held the girl's gaze, watching her weigh her answer carefully. Slowly, like ice melting, she smiled the teeniest bit. "Funnily enough, I throw knives." 

I gave an appreciative nod, looking next to the girl to her right, the quiet one. She still wasn't looking at me, but she was listening, and that was enough for me. "I like your hair. Maybe I should do mine like that." 

She didn't smile, but her mouth twitched, ever so slightly. Her hair was in a messy bun, but honestly looked pretty stylish. I definitely couldn't make my hair do that, that much was the truth. She still avoided my gaze, but I decided I liked her. 

Diego was quietly talking with the rumor girl, and a few of the other members were discussing a show I'd never heard of, but overall it seemed a lot more like a friendly dinner now than the too-formal monstrosity it had been moments before. I continued eating, smiling politely at Reginald from where he glared at me across the table. I considered this an accomplishment, since it was heading in a very different direction than anyone had planned. 

After dessert, Reginald stood without a word, and all seven Sparrow Academy members stood with him, waiting until he left the room to leave, in pairs or alone. I nodded to a few of them, smiling at the quiet girl and the rumor girl, and turned to Diego with a triumphant grin. 

"You, my new favorite sister," Diego ruffled my hair playfully, chuckling when I tried to duck out of the way. "Are a witch. How did you turn that mess into a round of ice breakers?" 

"I have no idea." I led the way back to our wing of the house, wondering if I should go wake Five up and brag about how well it had gone. "I just couldn't stand him pitting us against each other before we'd even met. It reminded me too much of us." 

Diego huffed in agreement. "Yeah, Carla seemed like a total bitch at first but she's actually not that bad." 

I turned to look mischievously at him. "Carla?" Diego rolled his eyes at my eyebrow waggle. "Shut up, I'm not Allison and Luther." 

"Okay, but Lila is also-" 

"Shut _up."_ I held my hands up in defense, biting my lip to stop myself from laughing. "And anyway, Carla has no interest in me. She's gay." 

I felt my eyes widen, but I just shrugged. I hadn't thought they'd talked about anything that deep, but then again, to some people it wasn't even a conversation. Klaus hadn't had one with us; we all just sort of knew. And I hadn't known I'd ever dated a man when I was in the 60's, so my "coming out" was just me being what I felt was right. 

"So you guys bonded over knives, of all things?" 

Diego's laugh was so quiet, but so nice to hear, after a lifetime of continuously pissing him off. "Small world, huh? She said she'd help train me, since she gets my whole schtick and all." 

I nodded approvingly, and we approached our hallway, staring down at the rooms that had been our prison cells for years. Without a word, we headed right to our respective bedrooms, laughing as we stood outside them. 

"Some things never change, huh?" 

I sighed, hoping that wasn't true. "Goodnight, Diego." 

Diego nodded, opening his door with a flourish. "'Night, Vanya. Thanks for doing that with me; it would have been so much worse if you weren't there." And with that, he was gone. I couldn't help but be amused at my family's weird display of affection, because we were a bag of endless tricks in that department.

I wasn't quite ready to go into my room, so I kept walking down to Five's, pushing the door open as quietly as I could. I was pleased to find him still passed out cold, in almost the exact same position he'd been in when I'd left. I saw a notepad on the table next to him, and wrote a quick note on it before closing the door once more, not wanting to disturb him. I had a good feeling it had been far, far too long since Five had let himself have a good night's sleep. 

_Wake me up when you get up; we can go find some normal clothes for you to wear. Also, you need a shower; three-day-old blood is not a good look or smell on anyone:)_


	10. Allison

I let Klaus sleep in my bed, partially because he ended up passing out there and partially because I wasn’t tired in the slightest. My mind was still racing, and I didn’t think I could bear to dream about Ray right now. It was too soon, and too painful. 

I doubted it would get any easier anytime soon, but for now, I could force myself to ignore it.

Before I left, I made sure Klaus was okay. I was more worried about him than I was any of my other siblings, mostly due to the distant look that had yet to leave his eyes. Shock had definitely set in, and it was having a profound impact on a freshly sober Klaus. I had a feeling this would have happened back in our timeline, had Klaus not been inebriated at the time. He seemed peaceful for now, for the most part, with his face pressed hard against the pillow and the blanket pulled all the way up to his chin. I had done that; he was still shivering, even after half an hour in a warm bath. I brushed my hand over his hair, making sure he wouldn’t wake up, and closed the door behind me with a soft click. 

I wandered down the hall, wondering if Vanya and Diego were back from dinner yet. I lingered for a long time outside Vanya’s door, finally mentally kicking myself and knocking three short raps on her door. I heard shuffling, and a moment later, Vanya was smiling at me, seeming slightly surprised. 

“Oh, hey! What’s up?”

Vanya pushed the door open, waving me inside, and I closed it behind me, following her over to the window. She had it pushed open, much like I used to do when I would smoke, and we climbed out on the roof together, scooching down until we could comfortably sit. 

“Is Klaus okay?” Vanya shrugged when I raised my eyebrows. “He obviously wasn’t earlier, and I know you two are close. Is he any better?”

I sighed, my breath swirling around me in a fog. It was winter here, apparently, and it was lucky for us that the impromptu Dallas snowstorm had us arriving in appropriate attire. “Not really. He’s talking, at least, but long story short, Ben wasn't the only thing he lost in the last few days.”

Vanya simply nodded, and I was glad; I didn’t want to explain once more what Klaus was going through. He had his reasons for not telling anyone, I was sure, and I didn’t want to betray his trust by blabbing his business to every one of our siblings. Luther had been the exception, and only because he’d overheard us talking.

We sat in silence for a long time, and I realized I never really got a chance to apologize to Vanya. We had hugged and had our moment, but that was before she'd remembered anything. After she did, we were preoccupied with trying not to die, so this was the first real moment in a very long time—for me at least—that I had a chance to say everything I had wanted to, for over a year now. I kept trying to find a way to start, but the words kept dying on my tongue, before my mouth had even opened. 

"Allison?" 

My gaze went to Vanya, who was giving me that tiny smile she gave when she was embarrassed. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything, but especially for what I did to you. I've never regretted anything more in my life, and I hope—" Vanya sniffled, chuckling to herself. "I hope you'll forgive me." 

_Wow, it was that easy_. I scooted over until I was close enough to hug her, and wrapped my arms around her tiny frame, squeezing her to my chest. I was crying, too, and we both laughed, feeling ridiculous but not caring in the slightest. 

"Of course I forgive you, Vanya," I mumbled into her hair, trying not to cry directly onto her head. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have pushed you, I should have done something, anything else, and I'm so, so sorry dad made me rumor you when we were kids. I caused this whole mess, and it's not—" Vanya had pulled back, wiping big teardrops off her red cheeks. "It's not your fault that the apocalypse happened. It's just not." 

Vanya smiled, still crying. "It is." She shook her head at my immediate protest. "But thank you. I forgive you, too. You were just trying to protect me." 

We both sniffled at the same time, which caused us both to burst into laughter. This situation might be the biggest mess we'd made yet, but I was so happy to have Vanya back, to have a sister for pretty much the first time in my life. 

We climbed back inside a short time later, getting too cold despite the warmth our tears had brought. I didn't want to leave, and thankfully, Vanya patted the bed beside her, smiling up at me. "You can crash here, if you want. I take it Klaus took over your room?" 

I flopped down, running my hand over my hair and wondering how this timeline's population felt about natural hair. "Yep. But I pretty much made him; I don't think he could have gone into where his room was." 

Vanya hummed an agreement. "Five's asleep, too, and I guess Diego and Luther also are." 

"Five's asleep?" Vanya giggled at my incredulous tone. "You saw this with your own eyes? I didn't think he ever slept anymore." 

"To be fair, I think it's been a good two weeks since he voluntarily slept. At least." 

That was probably true. It blew my mind that for Five, everything that had happened to us only happened over the course of a couple of weeks for him. I couldn't imagine how he'd been going on as long as he had; it made perfect sense that he had collapsed upon arrival earlier today. The kid ran on spite and caffeine alone. 

Vanya sighed, evidently restless as well. She was tugging on the ends of her hair absentmindedly, and met my gaze, blushing. "I've been thinking about cutting it." 

"I could do it for you," I offered, seeing her face light up. "After all, I have a year's worth of salon experience now. Plus your hair is way easier than most." 

Vanya grinned, and if we'd had scissors, we probably would have cut her hair right then and there. I knew we could get some tomorrow, since half of us had already planned on going and buying things anyway, so I promised myself I'd cut Vanya's hair the first chance I got. I wanted to have some bonding time with her, since for once we weren't running for our lives or battling an impending apocalypse.

For now, though, we were both exhausted, and Vanya wordlessly made a pallet on the floor, dragging in blankets from one of the other rooms. Not Ben's, though; none of us had dared even glance towards where his room stood, even if it wasn't his room here. Even if he was technically here, alive, and part of a team that very clearly didn't care for us much at all.

"I'll take the floor." Vanya looked up at me, furrowing her eyebrows, but I had already hopped off the bed, heading to take a shower. "I like the floor. Feels more like a sleepover that way." I smiled back at her, where she was rolling her eyes affectionately. "I haven't had a sleepover in years."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone who's been reading this has been enjoying it so far! I'm having a lot of fun writing it, and I just wanted to thank you all for the kudos and notes you've been giving me! And of course, to anyone and everyone who comments, you really do make writing so much more fun for me (special shoutout in particular to @avvngrzs; I look forward to your feedback every time, it's always so lovely and you really are too kind😊). Anyways, as always, let me know of any scenes you guys would like to see, and I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it:)


	11. Klaus

_Remember that time you cut almost all of Diego's hair off in his sleep?_

_Shut up, I did not._

_You did! It looked so bad and he had to get a buzz cut, he was so pissed!_

_I was such an evil little shit as a child, wasn't I?_

_Not evil, Benny boy. Juste espiègle._

_You don't speak French, Klaus. You can barely speak German, and dad tried teaching you that for years._

_I do too. Sort of. Spent like a month in Paris once, for your information._

_You were on LSD then, Klaus. Don't think I don't remember that._

_Simples détails, mon frère chéri. Simples détails._

The sunlight in Allison's room was much brighter than in mine, since hers had west facing windows and mine had blackout curtains. Or, well, it did, back when my room was mine. The sunlight woke me up, woke me out of whatever memory I had been dreaming about. I knew it had been about Ben or Dave, since I touched my face to find it wet. The day hadn't even started and I was already crying. Fantastic. 

I rolled over, groaning as I did. My whole body ached, and I knew my siblings probably felt the same way, if not worse. They'd actually been in fights the day before; I'd just been sort of knocked around, being useless as always. 

Although maybe, just maybe, I wasn't as useless as I'd thought. Not only was the possession thing a new power I didn't know I had, but I'd also basically caught myself with two ghosts the day before. I hadn't technically summoned them, but they'd been there, and they'd been tangible enough to catch me falling from about fifty feet in the air. 

A small, petty part of me wanted to rub my new abilities in my siblings'—and our father's—faces. They'd always considered me the most useless, and maybe I was, but I also hadn't thought I could do anything but conjure spirits. It made a little sense, though, since I had always been four and however you looked at it, I was still four. Four wasn't nothing, forwards or backwards. I knew I wasn't stronger than Vanya or Five or...Ben. But it was looking like there might be more to me than meets the eye, so maybe I was more powerful than Luther, Diego, and Allison. 

It was an interesting theory. 

"Hey, Ben, wouldn't it be funny if-" I stopped cold, practically choking on my own words. There was no one to hear them, no one to hear me cough to hide a sob. No person, living or dead, to see me hyperventilate over my ghost brother who wasn't even my ghost anymore. He wasn't anyone's ghost. He was just gone, and I felt truly alone for the first time in my whole life. 

Alone wasn't a good look on me. I dragged myself to the bathroom, staring at my reflection for a very long time. I didn't even recognize myself anymore. Physically, I looked fine. But my eyes were hollow, and there were bags underneath them, dark circles that weren't eyeliner and weren't a good look, either. I mostly looked sick. I tried to smile, and it just felt like a piece of broken glass, out of place and sharp on my face. I tried to see what Dave had seen in me, and no wonder he wanted nothing to do with me in Dallas; I looked broken and scary and crazy and sad. I didn't blame him. I almost hated him. 

But of course I couldn't. That Dave wasn't my Dave, hadn't fought a war with me, hadn't fallen in love with me in a dive bar in Saigon. And that was okay; he was just a kid, and I had been trying to protect that kid from himself, and I'd failed. That wasn't any Dave's fault; it was all mine, no matter the timeline. No matter the reason. 

I suddenly couldn't take staring at the person in the mirror anymore, because I hated that person more than anyone else. I smacked the sink in frustration, hard, and bit back a cry of pain when I felt a crack. I looked down; the sink looked completely normal. 

_Well, fuck._

I slipped out of the bathroom, trying to creep past my siblings' rooms and running almost directly into Vanya. I liked the new fun Vanya a lot, but that didn't mean I wanted to talk to her right this particular moment. 

"Hey, good morning, Klaus." Vanya shot me a quick smile, her hair sticking up all over the place, and I hoped whatever I gave her back was enough to be considered a smile. 

"Hey, Vanny." 

She opened the bathroom door, turning back around before I was able to make a clean break for it down the hall. "Hey, some of us were going to go with Allison and try to buy some stuff. Wanna come?" 

I kept walking, hoping I didn't seem like I was in a rush, even though I was. My hand was killing me. "Uh, yeah, sure. Maybe. I'll be downstairs." 

I turned the corner, breathing a sigh of relief. The longer I was around my siblings, the quicker they'd be able to see how fast I was unraveling. Instead, I wandered around downstairs until I inevitably ran into Pogo, who bowed his head politely at the sight of me.

"Master Klaus, I take it?" 

I nodded. "Do you know where Grace is? I, uh, my hand is injured." 

Pogo glanced to my hand, which was rapidly turning purple around my thumb, and motioned for me to follow him. He led me to Grace, who was standing in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. As she always did. I should've known; some things didn't change, no matter the timeline. 

"Oh, good morning!" Grace's chipper greeting had me almost smiling; she was always so positive, in a world full of so much hate. "Would you like something to eat, dear?" 

"Uh, no thanks, Grace. Thank you though. I was just wondering if I could get some ice for my hand?" 

Grace eyed me worriedly, setting her pan aside and not hesitating to inspect my hand. I winced, and she pursed her lips. 

"Can you move it?" 

I tried; my fingers barely twitched. Grace took me by the arm, guiding me to the examination room and gesturing for me to sit on the table. I obeyed, trying to avoid Pogo's curious gaze. He'd always watched me closely, even when we were kids. Diego had once said it was because I looked shifty. 

"What is your ability, master Klaus?" 

A wry laugh escaped my mouth, and Pogo widened his eyes. "Not really sure on that one, Pogo. I can see ghosts. I can maybe let them possess me. I can also maybe conjure them to do what I want. Who knows; I'm a bag of tricks, apparently." 

Pogo said nothing, as Grace gingerly tapped and pulled on my hand, wrapping it with gauze as she went. Finally, she handed me an ice pack, which I applied immediately with a sigh of relief. 

"Your hand is fractured, I'm afraid. What happened?" 

I shrugged. "Smacked the bathroom sink a little too hard." 

Grace gave me that mom smile I'd seen a million times as a kid, the one that portrayed disapproval and mild amusement. "Now why did you do that?" 

"My brother is dead and I can't even see his ghost anymore." 

Slowly, Grace's smile faded, and I almost felt bad, except that this wasn't my mom. I didn't have the attachment to her that Diego had, and I hopped off the table, offering her the only half-smile I could muster. "Thanks, for bandaging it for me. And the ice." 

Grace smiled back, a bit uncertainly now. "You're welcome. Would you like a painkiller, or an anti-inflammatory, for the swelling?" 

I waited a beat, almost hearing Ben object, but was only met with a welcoming silence. I smiled at Grace fully, then. "I would love one. Two, if you've got them."

Painkillers weren't my drug of choice, but then again, it was the first hard substance I'd had in years, so it did soften the edges of my vision enough for me to force myself to relax slightly. I ran into Five, briefly, but I didn't really register what he was saying to me. It sounded like an apology, only Five never apologized. Five was cruel, and cold, and had always been a very loud voice in the cacophony that mocked me for half of my life. I could hear those taunts, clear as day, even if they had been fired at me almost two decades ago. 

_Come on, Klaus, the rest of us are doing just fine in training. You're being a baby._

_You're weak. We all have to fight, and you don't even try. You should be better than this, number four._

_Drinking your problems away is cowardly, and you'll regret it. We'll all succeed, and you'll be the only Umbrella Academy member that doesn't. You're an embarrassment to us all._

Memory was a funny thing, because the harder I tried to remember, the more I couldn't distinguish if Five had said these things to me or not. It could have been him. Luther. Reginald. They all melded together, but the words remained, forever etched into my brain and into my conscious. They were who I was, and who I'd been trying to run from, for thirty-three years. 

Number four. A coward. Weak. Scared. Useless. An embarrassment. 

Maybe it was the pills, or maybe it was being truly alone for the first time, but a sick part of me smiled and couldn't wait to show them who they'd been underestimating.


	12. Five

When I finally awoke, it was 6:30am, and I'd been asleep for almost fourteen straight hours. Two weeks, two apocalypses, and this was the most sleep I'd gotten in all that time combined. If it weren't for the pounding caffeine headache and a wicked time travel hangover, I almost felt refreshed. 

I noticed a note on my bedside table, and read it quickly, smiling. I was glad Vanya hadn't woke me, although she had a point; I was in desperate need of a shower. 

Once I was done getting ready—there wasn't much I could do about the state of my clothes, so I still looked like hell—I braced myself for the weekend ahead. It was just two days of apparent relaxation, but I had a bad feeling things weren't going to go over as smoothly as any of us hoped. 

Diego was also leaving his room, and he nodded at me, unsmiling. Diego didn't smile often as it was, but I knew I was probably his least favorite person right now. I had, after all, treated Lila like the enemy for the past week. To be fair, she had been the enemy, but Diego would never see it that way. 

I chose to play the good brother act for now, trying to smooth over whatever animosity still remained between us. "How was dinner?" 

Diego chuckled. "Actually? Not that bad. Could have been worse, but Vanya handled things pretty well." 

That was interesting. I'd expected a lot worse, if I was being honest; we were clearly unwelcomed here, by all accounts. "Hmm. Glad it went well, then." I waved as I walked past Diego, and he seemed less on edge, so maybe I'd succeeded in my endeavors. The last thing we needed was the six of us fighting amongst ourselves, while also dealing with this new Sparrow Academy. 

I wandered down to the kitchen, wondering where Grace had gone. She'd been cooking breakfast, by the looks of it, and I tried not to disrupt any of her things while I hunted for a mug and a coffee pot. Maybe this Reginald liked well-ground, exotic coffee. One could hope. 

I had no such luck, so I sighed, grabbing a piece of bacon and deciding that the faster I found Vanya, the faster I could go get coffee from Griddy's, or something. I almost bumped into Klaus, who looked… bad, if I was being honest. He looked as if he hadn't slept at all, and his usual lively air was gone. And he was holding an ice pack to his bandaged hand. 

"What happened?" I nodded to his hand, and he barely looked at me, shrugging. 

"Broke it. Accidentally." 

I didn't like the way he was fidgeting, as if he wanted to take off running the moment the opportunity arose. He wasn't drunk, by the smell of him, but then again, Klaus always had had a knack for setting everyone on edge when he was upset. I decided to take a similar approach as I had with Diego, offering Klaus a sympathetic smile and gesturing towards his dog tags. 

"I'm sorry, about you having been in Vietnam. I didn't realize that was where you'd gone, back in 2019. Must've been hell." 

Klaus gave me a blank look, almost as if he hadn't registered what I'd said. I glanced back at the dog tags, and saw the words _Katz_ and _Jewish_ emblazoned on them. So they weren't his, then, but someone he'd served with. 

"Oh, my bad. Thought they were yours." My smile felt forced, but I had to do something, since Klaus' expression hadn't changed whatsoever. "I'm sorry, then, about whoever you lost." 

I was starting to get creeped out about the lack of emotion in Klaus' eyes, but he did smile back. Sort of. I didn't like the uncomfortable silence between us, so I waved, walking way too fast for it to appear casual. I made a mental note to figure out what was going on with Klaus later, since there was something very, very wrong there. I hadn't known adult Klaus for long, but the person I'd grown up with was a loud, and teasing, and troubled but overall silly person to be around. This Klaus was… not. 

Luckily, I found Vanya fairly quickly, and her face brightened at the sight of me. I realized then that she must have been looking for me, and I smiled in reassurance, raising my piece of half-eaten bacon as a greeting. 

"How'd you sleep?" Vanya's voice was soft, and I had missed her concern, all those years in the apocalypse. She'd always been nice to me, even when we treated her like shit as a group. She helped tend to our wounds, encouraged us as we trained. And all she'd received was ridicule and hostility in return. 

"Well, thank you. I sort of feel alive again," I cracked a grin, and Vanya immediately looked relieved. "Be even better if I could find some coffee soon." 

She nodded, since at this point my caffeine addiction was a prevalent part of my personality, and one that my siblings were aware of, apparently. I followed her to her room, where Allison awaited, her eyebrows going up at the sight of me. 

"Hey, you're… smiling." She laughed, and I realized that I was, even if it was only slightly. I'd gotten used to scowling at everything in my life, but this was the first time in a long time that I didn't have a focused goal to work towards. 

"He finally got some sleep," Vanya teased, elbowing me as she tidied up the room, a nervous energy that said she was ready to get a move on. I knew it was the same reason we were all awake already; this house, these rooms, and the memories that drove us out of them. Our own personal ghosts, in a house we all watched burn to the ground, at some point or another. 

"Anyone seen Klaus?" Allison asked, and I sighed, drawing their attention towards me. 

"I saw him in the kitchen. He broke his hand, and he-"

"What?" Allison cut me off, heading immediately for the door. "When? He was fine last night." 

Vanya and I followed her, exchanging shrugs and making our way downstairs, where Allison was frozen, staring over the banister. Diego had a knife to Klaus' throat, and I almost laughed, because I had a good idea something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.


	13. Diego

Out of all my siblings, I knew I was the most difficult to get along with. Even Five, when we were kids, was close with Vanya; I'd never really been close with any of them. As children, maybe Ben, but I was too aggressive for Ben's easy-going nature, his calm, diplomatic attitude. As adults, maybe Klaus, but that wasn't by my choice, whatsoever. I felt the need to look after Klaus, because honestly, who else would? Allison, perhaps, and that made sense, since they'd been close as kids, too. Luther had hated me. Vanya was scared of me. Allison had always thought my attitude was childish. 

I was the least-liked Hargreeves sibling, and I couldn't blame any of them one bit. I made an effort, once Ben died, to distance myself from everyone completely. I was the first one to leave. I moved out at sixteen with nowhere to go, no one to help, and tried to make something of myself, by myself. It was hard, and I messed up a lot—had the scars to prove it—but I had tried. I gave myself credit for that, even now, because though I'd never told a soul, I cried like a baby the day I moved out. 

It was weird, having Five be sort-of nice to me. I appreciated the effort, but Five had always scared me more than any of our other siblings. He'd always been wiser, faster, better than the rest of us on most every front, and that intimidated me. It was worse now, since he'd lived through technically three apocalypses and been on his own for some forty-five years. He was also a world-renowned, expertly trained temporal assassin, that even the highest of commission agents feared. Herb had practically shriveled at the mere mention of Five, and most of the other responses I'd gotten were similar. I even heard a rumor that he killed the entire board of directors, but I had no idea if that was true. 

And yet, I believed it. 

I thought about asking Five, when I'd bumped into him that morning, but quite honestly, I'd been afraid of his answer. Some secrets weren't meant to be shared, and I was okay without the mental image of Five, who by all appearances was still a child, killing a dozen or so highly trained operatives without a second thought. It was a chilling image, even if it was only fictional. 

I was still trying to figure Five out when I saw Klaus, standing perfectly still, in the middle of the foyer. His eyes were closed, and I took his appearance in—disheveled hair, bandaged hand, no shoes—and thought about just ignoring his weirdass antics. But there was something about Klaus, the last day or so, that worried me. And not just the fact that he'd twisted my arm so fast that I had barely registered what happened. I was a vigilante, I didn't get taken by surprise anymore. But Klaus hadn't hesitated, and I'd forgotten that he had done the same combat training drills as the rest of us when we were children. It was easy to forget; Klaus had hardly ever physically fought anyone, and when I had seen him do so, he lost. 

This time, I didn't touch him, but cleared my throat instead. "Hey, Klaus. What's up?" 

His eyes snapped open, and there, that look that was so unsettling against the usual brightness of Klaus' eyes. It was a shadow, making his light eyes appear dark and intense, rimmed with the evidence of sleeplessness. My brother looked like a ghost himself, and I was worried, in that moment, for him more than myself. 

"You okay?" Klaus avoided my gaze, but I stepped forward slowly, as if approaching a wild animal. When I got close enough to touch him, I put both hands on his upper arms, ducking my head to try and catch his eye. "You're scaring me, bro. What's wrong?" 

Silence. I don't think I'd seen Klaus this quiet, well, ever. Not even when he'd broken his jaw. Not even at Ben's funeral. It dawned on me, then, what must have been bothering him. "Is it Ben? He's happy now, Klaus, wherever he is. If anyone deserves a happy afterlife, it's him." 

A miniscule nod, but a nod nonetheless. I kept going, trying to snap Klaus out of this daze. I had a feeling he had had some sort of substance, but it wasn't causing this, whatever this was. This was much, much darker than substance abuse. 

"I know you lost someone, back in 2019. Is that still bothering you?" A twitch, then, of his uninjured hand, towards the chain that hung around his neck. I realized it was the same chain from 2019, a set of dog tags. I reached forward slowly, flipping them over and reading the inscription, and frowned in confusion. These tags were from a Vietnam vet, who died in the 60's. Why was Klaus—

Oh. _Oh_. That soldier would have been alive, in 1963. Probably wouldn't have been enlisted yet, and I remembered Klaus' sudden tattoo that had appeared, which none of us had paid much attention to. It was of a brigade. I connected the dots enough to guess that Klaus had ended up in the Vietnam war somehow, and this was the soldier he'd been at that veteran's bar crying over. 

I wanted to hug him, but Klaus just looked hollow, staring down at the tags in my hand. If he'd tried to convince this man not to enlist in '63, and failed… 

"It isn't your fault he died, Klaus. You can't blame yourself. It doesn't help, and there's nothing you could have—" 

Klaus' eyes snapped to me, silencing me instantly with their intensity. "There was something, and I blew it. I fucked everything up and he joined early, for fucks sake. Why won't you people let me believe it was my fault? _It was!"_

I stared at him, mouth slightly ajar, because I couldn't recall a single time Klaus had actually yelled because he was angry. His eyes were ablaze now, boring into mine, and I was almost afraid, for a split second. Afraid of Klaus, the most harmless of us all. 

"I lost him once, and I lost him again. I lost Ben once, and I lost him again. Tell me, Diego, who have you lost twice?" At my silence, Klaus laughed, and it was a cruel, twisted version of what his laugh should sound like. 

"You don't get what suffering is, until you have to look at the damage you've caused. Until you can see the dead, and not be able to see the people you caused to die." 

I felt the pressure in my chest, that familiar feeling that compelled me to keep my mouth shut, to not mess up the words I wanted to say. But Klaus was making me mad, especially if he thought I hadn't lost people. 

"I lost Pa-Patch, Klaus. That was my fault. And mom—I did that. Lila. I've l-lost people too, okay? We all h-have." 

It's as if my words sparked something meaner in Klaus, some long-buried passion that he'd never previously had. Klaus had always been the first to back down in arguments, the last to confront anyone. He was too chill to waste time fighting, he'd once said. But this was something else entirely, and I wondered if maybe Klaus was finally snapping. I honestly couldn't blame him if he was; it'd been long overdue. 

"Only one of those people are actually dead, Diego, and it's Patch. She was only at that motel to save me, even if you were too late to save her. Everywhere I go, people die, and I'm sick of it." 

Every bone in my body wanted to comfort Klaus, but when I weighed my chances, there was a valid chance he'd break my arm. He was shaking like a leaf, and yes, my brother was cracking. I could see it in his eyes. 

"You don't cause people to—" 

Klaus stepped forward, getting right in my face, and I flinched despite who I was dealing with. 

"Maybe I want to. Ever consider that? None of you ever cared about what my power actually was. You were too busy kissing dad's ass and thinking you were ever better than Luther. Guess what, Diego? Nothing has changed. You're still not One and dad still thinks you're a fucking disappointment. Maybe he's right." 

Klaus' voice had been low, but his words stung, and I didn't even think before I had a knife in my hand, pressing it against Klaus' throat. If he moved he'd be dead, and I almost wished he would. I knew he'd been trying to provoke me, and he'd won, but the rational part of my brain had always been weak compared to my anger. I was a hothead as a child, and Klaus was right. Nothing had changed. 

"What the hell are you doing?" I heard Allison yelling at me, heard her running down the stairs, but I was locked in a stare with Klaus. I could feel his pulse, my hand was that close to his throat, but his gaze didn't waver. I must've been going crazy, because it almost seemed like Klaus was begging me to do it. He wasn't shying away from my blade, but leaning into it, and that above all else scared me to death. 

I relaxed my stance, and Klaus' lip twitched, his grin a million times lighter than whatever I had seen in his eyes mere seconds before. "Nothing to worry about, Allison; our dear brother was just reminding me that he managed to sneak a weapon past those Sparrows." 

I was still watching Klaus, but he didn't really focus on me. He didn't really focus on anyone, actually, but smiled whenever Allison's glare turned to him. She didn't buy it, and grabbed me by the arm, ordering the others to go wait for her outside. Even Five obliged, shooting me a curious look as he passed, and Vanya just followed wordlessly, frowning to herself. 

Once we were alone, Allison's face darkened even further. "Why? Why now, why him?" 

I sighed in frustration, because I didn't have an explanation that she wanted to hear. "He started it, and I'm not kidding. He said I was still a disappointment, and that he causes death wherever he goes, and I…" Allison's angry expression had given way to sadness, and I stopped bitching for the moment, touching her arm. "I'm sorry. I knew he was just trying to get a rise out of me, and I fell right into his trap."

Allison huffed out a laugh, wiping at her eyes. "I'm just so worried about him. He's not okay, I mean he hasn't been for a long time but this, this is…" 

"Something else." It had been what I was thinking earlier, and Allison's words confirmed what I'd felt. There was a new darkness in Klaus, a bitter anger that had never been there before, and we were both wondering if this had been the final straw to break our brother for good.


	14. Luther

Why everyone in this hallway seemed to wake up at the same ungodly hour, I didn't know. What I did know was that I had no intention of discussing anything with any of them, because I seemed to be the only one that had a genuine problem with willingly submitting ourselves to the shit we'd dealt with as children, all over again. And probably worsened a thousand times over. 

I had finally, for the first time in my life, distanced myself from my father. I'd been on my own, fending for myself, for a little over a year, and I was proud of it. It was all I had. I didn't consider anything I did as a child, or even when I was in space, a success. And nothing I had done that week in 2019 had been anything but a total failure. I'd doomed us all by locking Vanya up, and all because what? I was One? 

So I had one year of adequate adult behavior under my belt, all for us to volunteer to be Reginald's lab rat children once more? It was absurd. 

I waited until the house settled, and made my way downstairs, as on guard as I had ever been. I didn't know what I'd do if I saw Reginald, but he wasn't the one I was looking for. I knew where I was heading, and that was the same place we'd all use to hang out as kids, which was the basement. 

What I hadn't expected was to run almost immediately into Ben. Or, well, Sparrow-Ben. The sight of him chilled me to my core, mostly since I blamed myself above all of us for his death. Even Reginald, who hadn't been there on that mission, who hadn't called Ben a baby just before he—

"What do you want?" 

I snapped out of it, shaking my head and extending my hand to him. This wasn't Ben; our Ben would never be so cold to me, or to anyone, for that matter. He stared at my hand for a long moment before shrugging, shaking my hand once, firmly. 

"I'm Luther. Nice to meet you." 

He nodded, sizing me up. "Ben." 

He saw my double-take, probably saw the sadness on my face, and his gaze was less hostile and more curious now. "You know me?"

"Yes." I hesitated, gauging how much to tell him and figuring eh, what the hell. I took a seat on the other end of the sofa, facing him. "Or, well, I did. In another timeline. You, uh, you died." 

Ben—god, it was weird to even think of him as Ben at all—weighed my words, not taking his eyes off of me. Finally, he seemed to figure me out. "You had something to do with it." I flinched, and that gave him his answer. 

"Dad says you're their leader, technically." Ben seemed amused by this. "Didn't clock you as a leading type." 

That got a wry laugh out of me. "I'm not. Not anymore. Are you theirs?" 

"Sort of." Ben shrugged, stretching his arms way over his head. I heard his elbows crack, and saw the book sitting on the back of the sofa, creased down the middle. I almost smiled; some things didn't change. 

"We don't do whatever ranking system you guys did," Ben wrinkled his nose. "We're all powerful. From what I've heard about you, your power is fairly simple, though." 

If he expected a rise out of me, he didn't get one. I'd been dealing with ruthless mobsters for the past year, and nothing Ben could say would rattle me any more than his appearance already had. I'd been called every name in the book, and 'simple' was but a breeze compared to some I'd heard. 

Ben seemed to respect my measured response, and dipped his head in appreciation. "Liam has a similar power to yours, then. Super strength, super sight, super hearing; the senses, basically." 

Interesting. That was three members' powers I knew of so far, if I was assuming correctly that this Ben also had a monster inside him, like ours had. 

"What about the girl who controlled Five earlier?" I was returning what I was receiving, a name for a name, a power for a power. Though Ben already seemed to know all about us. He seemed to appreciate my attempt at fairness, however, and smiled at my question. 

"Carla. She doesn't like strangers, although she seemed to warm up to your brother and sister at dinner." 

Another interesting piece of information. That must've been all Vanya, and one hell of a dinner, if she had managed to bridge the animosity between our two groups even a little. All within a meal, I realized. This new Vanya was really something. 

"Vanya and Diego," I offered, not knowing what else to say. Ben nodded, still studying me intensely. I knew he would; we were the enemy, after all, this other group of highly-powered siblings trained by Reginald Hargreeves. 

"Your sister said something interesting yesterday, about not knowing her potential, or your brother's. Did our father really wipe her memory, in your timeline?" 

I nodded, my face somber. "He created a bomb. She blew up the moon. She almost ended the world again in the sixties." 

Ben couldn't hide his shocked expression, and I wondered if any of them were as powerful as Vanya. Ben was quite possibly the closest, as he had been in our timeline, too. And there was always the chance of another Lila, which was basically the same thing. 

"I don't know about Diego, although I wouldn't be surprised. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we all had deeper abilities than we realized." 

This Ben was similar in some ways to our Ben, because he gave me the same curious look our brother had, whenever he had an idea. "You do know we want to help unlock those abilities, right? We want to train you all to be the best you can be." 

"For your own benefit," I deadpanned, and Ben grinned just a little. 

"Fair point." 

I left Ben to his book, having absorbed enough information for right now. I started looking for Five, and then chastised myself when I realized what I was doing. I didn't need to report to anyone; I'd just had a conversation with Ben because I was curious myself, not because we needed information. 

I did, however, run into Diego, who was lying on a sofa in the living room and tossing a knife into the air, lost in thought. 

"Where did you get that?" 

Diego's hand twitched, as if he had instinctively almost thrown it at me. "Had it the whole time. They're not that good at searching for hidden weapons." 

I shook my head, both impressed and disappointed in him. "Where's everyone else?" 

"Shopping." Diego had resumed his knife toss, and I watched it flip through the air, glinting and gleaming as it did. 

"Huh." I sat down in the chair across from him, watching the knife. "Why didn't you go?" 

Diego's steady pace faltered, if only slightly. "Would've probably gotten into a fight with Klaus. Again. Guy's got a death wish." 

"Can you blame him?" I blurted, and when Diego raised a brow at me, I sighed. He'd never let me wave it off, so I explained what Allison had told me, about Klaus' soldier and Vietnam, and what had happened in the sixties. Diego didn't seem all that surprised, but he did stop throwing the knife. 

"I wish he'd just told me that," Diego muttered, and I huffed in bitter amusement, receiving another eyebrow arch. 

"Again, can you blame him? All we've ever done is treat him like shit." 

"All he's ever done is smoke dope and get himself arrested. Can you blame us?" 

We both had a point. And we both loved Klaus, but that was the thing with addicts. Eventually, you had to stop holding onto the hope that they'd get better, because sometimes, they just didn't want to. Klaus hadn't wanted to. We'd all tried, time after time after time, to help Klaus, but it had always been too little, too late. Reginald had done him in, and nothing we did or said could bring Klaus back from that mausoleum. Apparently, the one thing that managed to get through to him was the soldier, and now he was dead. 

Diego still seemed troubled. "He was on something, today. I know it. He was also so angry, so dark, it kind of scared me." 

That was scary. Klaus had always been a lot of things, but he'd never really been genuinely angry. He'd never cared enough to be angry. "Why? Ben?" 

Diego nodded. "He spent three years mourning a soldier he always planned on saving, only to mess it up and cause the guy to enlist. That, coupled with Ben dying again." Diego shook his head. "He's breaking, Luther." 

I knew, then, that I did have to talk to Klaus, sooner rather than later. I needed him to know that I was sorry, that I wished I could go back and fix everything I'd ever done to him. 

After all, I was the one that caused Ben to die, and that alone warranted an apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you guys are still having fun with the story, although this may be the only chapter I post this week due to election stress. I live in the US and as you can probably guess, we're on the brink of a country-wide meltdown. Hopefully polls stay looking positive and I'm able to post on Saturday as usual:)


	15. Vanya

The city we were in was still familiar, if a bit… odd. We'd been here, but this was like a place from a dream. A little hazy, a little not-quite-right. Close enough, but still not reality. 

We'd taken a unanimous vote that Allison should dust off her rumoring and get us some clothes and essentials, at the very least. Was it technically lying and stealing? Yes. Did we consider this a form of our new training? Also yes. 

Allison had discreetly tasked me with keeping an eye on Klaus, who was still distant, if a bit more lively than yesterday. He laughed at my jokes, and spoke when spoken to, but his mind was clearly anywhere else, his eyes still glazing over when we walked by certain items in a store. A display of toy soldiers. A Barnes and Noble, where Ben would spend an entire afternoon hiding in reading books while the rest of us looked for him. An army jacket. An octopus figurine. A disco ball. It physically pained me to watch him, so clearly in misery in this mall that he used to love, that I grabbed his hand, squeezing it when he looked over. 

"Wanna show me how you dress so fabulously all the time?" Klaus rolled his eyes, but his smile was back for the moment. "I'm new to this club; I need help." 

We walked through the racks, and I saw Allison in the distance, giving her a thumbs up when she looked my way. The one thing I knew Klaus loved was fashion, and this was the only way I could think to keep his attention focused away from his dark thoughts. He moved confidently up and down the aisles, grazing his hand along a few items until he found a section he liked, of fun patterned button-downs. He held one with strawberries on it up, raising his eyebrows for my approval. 

"I like it, very farm-y." 

Klaus handed it to me, his smile growing softer. "Sissy would approve." I blinked away tears. 

We located a few more items for me, and I realized Klaus was slowly edging back towards the sections he most frequently shopped in, of bizarre patterns and fabrics and jackets. He kept circling back to a green and yellow kimono, with designs that looked like dragons and waves and sea creatures on it. I held it up, and he shook his head, waving me off immediately.

"I think you'd look pretty in it. Come on, you've picked nothing up this whole time." 

Klaus wordlessly took it from me, but he was suppressing a smile. He almost instantly found pants that would work with it, and we wandered around until he had a few more shirts and jackets, as well. I was pleased with our haul, fist bumping Allison quietly as we all "paid" at the front counter. Allison used her credit card, which was of course declined, and she furrowed her eyebrows, smiling sweetly at the cashier. 

"I heard a rumor my card was valid. It must just be your machine." 

"It must be," the cashier echoed, and we were given our receipt with a smile. Five shook his head, but he'd brought his own armfull of things to the counter, so he must not have disapproved too much. 

"We're all going to hell at this rate," he muttered once we exited the shop, and Klaus snorted, drawing all our eyes to him. 

"Well, if we're believing in the traditional rules of hell, then yeah. Obviously." He pointed to Allison, and then Five, smirking but shrugging at his own words. "Liar. Killer." He gestured to me, and then himself. "Gay. Also I've committed every sin the bible ever specified like it was a bucket list, so I'll see you all there." 

I burst out laughing, and Klaus elbowed me, which caused Five and Allison to errupt into laughter, and this was so nice, laughing with my family in the middle of a mall. It was so mind-bogglingly normal that I could almost believe we one day could put our collective trauma behind us. Almost. 

We bought a few more things—sanitary and bathroom products, some things for Diego and Luther—and Allison found a beauty supply store, where she bought things to cut my hair. 

We returned to the house in high spirits, and luckily, it seemed that everyone else in the house wanted to keep to themselves this weekend. We saw no Sparrow Academy members, no Reginald, and I let out a breath I'd been holding since we'd stepped on to the property. 

We dumped all the stuff into my room, and it only then dawned on me why everyone was gravitating towards this room alone. It was the only one of our childhood bedrooms that hadn't been a place of bad memories from our pasts. It had later been turned into the other half of Klaus' room, but when it had been mine, it was quiet, and peaceful, and I remember each one of my siblings at one point or another taking refuge in here. I had cried with them and cheered them up and played the violin for them when they were sick, and read books to them when they couldn't sleep. We may have all been pitted against each other, but we were also the only family each other had. 

Klaus flopped down on the bed, and Allison and I sat cross-legged on the floor, digging through the bags and dividing the stuff out into six separate bags. Five remained standing, leaning against the wall next to the window and seeming, for once, relaxed. At least, as relaxed as Five ever seemed. 

Once we had everything organized, Allison pulled out the haircutting things, and I got excited all over again. I hadn't cut my hair differently in, god, years, and I could tell Allison was excited as well. 

"Klaus, you interested in a trim?" 

Klaus blew a raspberry at the ceiling. "Nah. I finally found a length that I like, but thanks." 

"You look like a hippie." Five hadn't moved, but his tone sounded disdainful. 

"I am a hippie." 

Allison set everything down on the desk, and I took a seat in the chair, having no idea what I wanted and no idea what she was going to do. She played with my hair for a few minutes, and Klaus turned the radio to a rock station, eventually causing us all to hum the well-known song that was playing. Even in this timeline, AC/DC was popular. 

"Okay, what about shoulder length?" 

I considered it, studying my reflection for a moment. "A little shorter than that, I was thinking." 

Allison grinned, and got to work. It's always a surreal feeling, cutting off a large chunk of your hair. I had done it when I was sixteen, having had hair almost down to my waist and hacking it almost halfway off when I'd gone to college. I kept getting more and more trimmed off, every year since then, but this was another almost half of my hair. I felt the weight lessen, hair falling in small pieces all around me, and wondered if I would always drastically change my hair whenever I hit a major turning point in my life. It was a good way to start a new chapter, that was for sure. 

"Bangs?" Allison asked, and I shook my head, never having been a fan of how bangs looked on myself. Allison combed through my damp hair, tousling it here and there, and finally spun me back towards the mirror, grinning at me in the reflection. 

"Well? Thoughts?" 

"It's perfect." And it was. I loved how it softened my face, and how bouncy it was, and she could tell by my smile that I approved. I glanced towards Five, who nodded at me. 

"Looks good, Vanya. You have shorter hair than Klaus now." 

We all looked to Klaus, expecting a witty response, but he was snoring softly, half-sprawled out and hugging a pillow to his chest with one arm. Five rolled his eyes, but none of us had the heart to wake him up. Instead, we just kept talking normally, because Klaus had always been able to sleep better with noise. We had all had enough experience with his nightmares as a child to know that.

"I don't have a good feeling about him training." Five's tone was grim, and I hated that he had to ruin the little bubble of normalcy we'd created. He did have a point, though; if we thought I was unpredictable, Klaus was a complete enigma. 

"We'll be there with him. We can make sure he's okay." Allison sounded determined, and I appreciated her optimistic attitude. Only, Five shot me a look, and I remembered what Reginald had said, about us being nonparticipants in each other's sessions. 

"He'll be okay, Allison. He's made it through everything life has thrown at him so far; he'll make it through this." 

Five didn't seem so sure, but I knew Klaus. He was going through a hard time, the hardest time of his life, but Klaus could and had survived anything and everything. If he could face the dead on a day-to-day basis, he could face our father and whatever he threw at him. He might get mean, and snap at all of us, and scare us all a little with his energy, but Klaus was resilient. He would be okay. 

I had to believe that he would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this one, and are having a great weekend!😁🥳


	16. Klaus

If it wasn't ghosts haunting me, then it was dreams. Even unconscious, I couldn't find peace, and if I'd thought God would ever let me into an afterlife, I'd have tried a lot harder to die. Maybe that was cowardly, or concerning, but I didn't care; all I wanted was five minutes of goddamn quiet. My brain was in survival mode, and it was going a hundred miles an hour at any given time of day. Or night. 

I could hear my siblings quietly talking, and the music of the radio tinkling under that, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I wanted to find solace in that comforting background noise, let it lull me to a place of rest, but my mind had other ideas. It was a weird dream, but not one that I hadn't had before in the past few years. In it, I was talking to Dave, or what I supposed my brain had decided Dave would be. Which was, in each dream, my Dave, sitting a few feet away from me. I was unable to reach him, no matter how hard I tried, and I'd given up after the first few dreams. Even my subconscious wouldn't let me be happy. 

_I miss you, you know._

_I know,_ I replied. I wasn't sad in my dreams, at least. Just disembodied, staring at the dead love of my life. Something was wrong with me, that much was obvious, but I didn't mind the dreams. They were the only way I could talk to him. 

_They love you._ Dave's eyes were shining, and I almost could believe he wasn't dead, wasn't three years dead and two timelines away.

_I know._

_You don't though, do you? That's the problem._

I hesitated. _They want to love me. But I don't think they know I sort of hate them._

_You don't hate them, Klaus._

_I want to. I want to let myself be angry with them. Is that so wrong?_

Dave shook his head. _You can be angry. What you can't do is let that anger control you. That's always the tricky part, with you._ His smile was still as fond as ever, and I smiled back, knowing he was right. Or, I guess, I was right, since he was just a figment of my overactive imagination. 

_You owe Diego an apology._

He _owes_ me _an apology._ I corrected, and even if I was mad as hell at Diego, my tone remained neutral, matter-of-fact. Dave still frowned, though. 

_He missed Ben, Klaus. He hadn't meant to hurt you by saying he should stay._

_Maybe not, but it did. And he wouldn't care if I told him. Do you think that would have been his reaction if the roles were reversed, if I had died and Ben was in my place?_

Dave said nothing. I was right, and he—I—knew it. I chalked this up to be my guilt having an internal battle with my brain, but I'd never been a particularly guilt-driven person. After all, I'd led a cult to believe I was a prophet for years without a second thought.

_I really do miss you._

_I miss you more._ My throat felt tight, and even asleep, the thought of Dave still made me emotional. _I was supposed to save you. I'm sorry._

_Oh, Klaus, you did save me. Just not the way you thought you would._

I didn't know what that meant, but I didn't have much time to think about it, because I was waking up. It was quieter now, with only the radio softly playing beside me, and I barely wondered where the other three had gone. I rubbed at my eyes, ending up standing in front of Ben's bedroom door before I'd consciously made the decision to even move. 

I didn't know what I was doing. He wasn't there, it wasn't even his room, hadn't been his room since we were kids. But I felt drawn to it all the same, and when I stood outside the door, all the other ghosts that were latching onto me the longer we were here seemed to fade away. I watched my hand turn the knob, and then, there it was, looking almost the same as it had the last time I'd been in it, only devoid of Ben's presence entirely. 

I sat on the dresser, because that's what I used to always do whenever I'd hang out in here. I faced the bed, only it seemed wrong somehow, and I realized it was in the wrong spot. So I got up, and scooted it over, and then scooted the dresser and desk to match where they were supposed to be. There, much better. 

This dresser felt different—it didn't have the dozens of knicks and scratches it used to, from where me or Diego would pick or carve at it. I ran my hand over the smooth wood, and I closed my eyes, remembering Ben. His room had always been an organized mess, with books and papers and things stacked in piles all around, and this room just felt empty. Hollow. Ben filled up space, made it comforting by just being there, and maybe that's why my head felt so echoey and void without him. 

"I'll never forgive you for leaving me, you shitheel." 

My voice was too quiet to echo, but it still felt like it did. There was no response, no snort or sigh or annoying little gesture Ben would give me, without fail, every time I said something stupid. Which was the entire last decade, basically. 

I waited, made sure my words absorbed into the walls of this room, and glared at the spot on the bed where Ben would always recline, reading and trying his best to ignore me. "You're an asshole. And you're better than all of us, and you know it. I miss you. I hate you."

I was being mean to no one, and I knew that, but bitching at nothing felt better than remembering he wasn't there to be bitched at at all. 

"I can't talk to them. I can't talk to you. Who the hell did you leave me with, Ben? Myself? Dick move." 

The silence was pissing me off, but I kept going, riling myself up for no good reason but needing to feel _something._ I wanted to throw something, to fight with someone, but I was only really angry at myself and at Ben. Or maybe I was just angry at myself, and needed to take it out on someone who wasn't here to defend themselves. Whatever. It was all the same to me. 

"I don't care if you did this to save the world, or to save Vanya. That wasn't your call to make. You were already dead, so why the hell'd you have to go and die again?" 

In the back of my mind, I realized how crazy I must look. I'd been talking to Dave in my dreams, talking to Ben when I was awake, and I couldn't even say that I was talking to their ghosts. I was just talking to myself, acting crazy, and I knew I was finally, finally losing it. I was thinking how glad I was that my siblings weren't here to see this when I heard a knock on the door, and Five nodded his head as he pushed it open, leaning against the doorframe. 

He didn't ask if I was okay, didn't even look at me really, studying the room as if he too felt how wrong it was. I watched him, though, and hoped he would just leave without wanting to talk. I had never been that lucky. 

"I had Delores to talk to, for most of my life. I know it isn't the same thing as you having Ben, but I sort of know how you feel. Having that silence now, that empty space." 

I blinked, surprised. I hadn't expected that. Five still didn't look at me, picking at the wall next to him. 

"She didn't die, obviously, but I felt like she did when I left her in 2019. She'd been with me for forty-five years, was the only person I had when everyone else in the entire world was dead. You don't get over someone like that." 

Five cleared his throat, and I realized that he was actually getting emotional, for the first time I could remember. Five had always been angry and moody, but never really sentimental. This was a new side of him that I'd honestly thought didn't exist. 

Five glanced at me, then, or more specifically, at my dog tags. "No one thinks you should get over him, Klaus. I hope you know that. Delores was my companion during a war, and he was yours. Same with Ben; they were your closest people, and I'm sorry you lost them both. Again. No one deserves to go through that." 

I didn't know what to say. I'd never expected to get a heart-to-heart from Five, of all people, let alone a good one. I'd expected to feel mad, or embarrassed, but I just felt...seen. Five appeared to understand my anger on a level I hadn't expected, although it did make sense. I was talking to ghosts, and Five had created a person out of a mannequin. We were both our own brands of crazy.

Five had stopped picking at the wall, brushing his sweater off. He stood up straighter, nodding to me, and was just about to close the door when I finally found my voice. 

"Five?" 

He raised his eyebrows, hand on the doorknob, and I hoped the smile I gave him was enough of one to count. "I'm sure Delores misses you, too."


	17. Allison

The weekend passed far too quickly for my liking, as weekends always do. It was a strange thing, to have free time but still feel on edge. It was as if we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop, to receive news of another apocalypse or be targeted by some sort of assassins. That didn't happen; it was a fairly pleasant weekend, by all accounts. 

The first person outside of my family that I spoke to that weekend was a girl named Olivia. I was in the kitchen, making something to eat for myself, Vanya, and Klaus, when she walked in. We stared at each other for a long moment before she shrugged, rummaging through the fridge and humming to herself. I didn't want to talk to her—I was still fairly upset that we'd been replaced by these people—but I also knew that first impressions meant a lot. Given, my first impression had been the day we arrived, but still. 

"Would you like a sandwich? I can make you one," I offered, and I saw her back stiffen up, her humming falling silent. She raised an eyebrow at me, seemed to mull it over, and shrugged again, closing the fridge. "Sure, why not. PB&J, if you already have it out." 

I smiled, getting to work on hers, and I could feel her staring at me from where she'd hopped up on the table. I didn't turn around, but I did speak, breaking the loaded silence before it drove me mad. "I'm Allison. What's your name?" 

"Liv," she answered, and then hesitated. "Well, Olivia. You can call me whatever." 

I nodded, slathering peanut butter on one slice of bread. "What can you do? If you don't mind me asking." 

Olivia—Liv—was quiet for a long moment, and I could feel her studying me, deciding whether she should tell me. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't; I was a stranger, living in her house, and probably nothing but a problem in her eyes. 

"It's weird. I don't like talking about it." 

That's what Ben always used to say, when people would wonder what he could do. Some of our powers—mainly Luther's, mine, and Five's—were sensationalized, since they were very easy to show off and to explain. Diego's also was, sort of, but Reginald had always kept him in the shadows somewhat. Diego had blamed his stutter, but Luther and I knew it was because our father had never really thought Diego worthy enough to be in the spotlight at all. Klaus and Ben preferred to hang in the background, or, quite frankly, Ben did, and Klaus often stayed with him so he wasn't alone. 

So I didn't argue with Liv, sliding her finished sandwich in front of her and smiling as I turned back around to work on mine. She seemed relieved that I didn't press the issue, and continued to eat her sandwich as I cleaned my mess up. 

"So you can reality-alter, like Carla, right?" 

Liv was picking at the crust of her sandwich, and I gave her a curious look. "How so?" 

Liv looked up, and her dark eyes were intense as she studied me. I could tell she was interested in our powers, even though I also knew she definitely knew a lot more about us than we did of them. 

"Carla can speak things into existence. So telling your brother to shut up, the other day—you can basically do that." 

I shrugged, leaning back against the counter and trying to seem unfazed by her questions. "I guess. I just say 'i heard a rumor' and people do whatever it is I say. So I guess it's essentially the same thing." 

"Why do you say the rumor thing?" 

I opened my mouth to reply, and then closed it when I realized I didn't really have an answer. I'd always said 'I heard a rumor'; I didn't know why, or when I'd started, I just… did. "I don't know," I admitted, picking my plate of sandwiches up and giving Liv a half-hearted wave. "It was nice to meet you. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." 

Liv smiled a tiny bit, and she didn't seem so bad when she wasn't on guard. "Yeah, see you then. Thanks for the sandwich." 

I found Vanya sitting with Klaus in her room, where she was attempting to braid his hair, albeit very poorly. I was pleased to see that Klaus was looking more relaxed, if only slightly, and that Vanya seemed to be doing as well as she'd ever been. I handed them their sandwiches, and told them about the conversation I'd had with Liv in the kitchen. I supposed I'd always been a bit of a gossip.

"Wait, is she the one with the short hair?" I nodded, and Vanya wrinkled her nose as she took another bite of her sandwich. "She was very quiet on Friday," she mumbled. "Didn't seem to like me much." 

"Yeah, me neither." 

"She didn't tell you anything about her powers?" 

I shrugged, taking a bite of my own sandwich and taking my time to answer as I chewed. "I got the feeling that she didn't really like discussing it, kind of like B—" I glanced at Klaus, and Vanya nodded, understanding what I'd meant. Klaus wasn't paying attention to us anyway, picking at his sandwich and making it look as if he'd eaten more than be had. As a matter of fact, I didn't think he'd eaten any of it at all. It threw me into a memory I'd rather not have, and had taught myself to forget, up until now.

It was an old trick, and one that I'd learn to spot in Klaus, especially, after the first time I'd learned he'd been doing cocaine, which was right around the time we were fifteen or sixteen. For weeks he would do that to his food, cut it up and move it around and make it look as if he'd eaten a little of everything, when he'd in fact eaten nothing at all for days. I'd done my research, called around to rehab centers and medical professionals, and eventually, confronted Klaus about it, about a month after I'd started noticing his behavior. 

"Klaus, are you using again?" I'd been blunt with him, angry that he was still doing this and even angrier that he was hiding it from me. We'd been drifting apart more and more every year, especially after Ben had died, but I seemed to be the only one out of the four of us left that noticed anything was going on with him. Maybe I was the only one who'd cared. 

Klaus' eye twitched, and he quickly rubbed at it, sniffling. "What do you mean 'again', Ally? It's not like I ever really stopped." Klaus seemed to fully not see the angry tears in my eyes, as he grinned crookedly, wiping at his nose. I would've assumed he was sick, but it was August and this 'cold' had been here for weeks. 

"You smoked weed, Klaus, you didn't do coke. Those are two very different drugs." 

Klaus hadn't even seemed surprised by my accusation, and that, somehow, made me angrier. "Drugs are drugs, sins are sins, _c'est ce que c'est._ " Another sniffle, another twitch, another smirk, and I was shaking so much with anger and fear that it was a wonder even intoxicated Klaus didn't know when to stop. 

"Are you high on cocaine right now, yes or no?" I had glared Klaus in the eye, standing on my tiptoes and trying to look threatening, but Klaus hadn't even blinked. 

"Nope." 

"Fine then, summon a ghost. Now." 

He'd blinked then. "Come on, you know I haven't been able to do that in years. That proves nothing." 

I snorted, knowing I was about to push this into a fight and not caring one bit. "Yeah, because you've been high since you were ten, Klaus. If you're not high right now, summon a ghost, or I'm telling dad you have a stash somewhere in your room." 

Klaus' eyes darkened, and he didn't seem dazed anymore, just irritated. "Oh, my _god_ , don't talk to me about my shitty coping mechanisms when the three of you team captains kiss dad's ass on the daily. At least I make my own decisions, sis. Or should I say 'snitch'?" 

Klaus had turned to leave, but I wasn't done, especially after he'd thrown that at me. "They're awful decisions, Klaus. And at least _we're_ not too weak to handle it." 

He didn't stop, and I followed him, calling after him only loud enough for him to just hear me. _"I heard a rumor…"_

"Oh, _fuck off!_ " Klaus yelled, covering his ears before I was able to do anything. And I wasn't even sure what I would have done; I was still shaking, so angry I was seeing red. Klaus had whipped around, and I was in his face very suddenly, nearly running into him as I'd jogged to catch up. Klaus blinked once, slowly, and flipped me off with both hands, going to take a step backwards as he did so. 

He didn't get the chance before my hand connected with his cheek, the slap so loud we both jumped. I'd never hit Klaus outside of training, and he just stared at me, that dazed look still deeply ingrained in his expression. I wanted him to be mad, be pissed, because at least that would have been something, but he just slowly grinned as he rubbed his face. 

"And you have the audacity to wonder why I stay high." 

I let him turn away from me, still smirking, and watched his blurry figure walk away. My eyes stung from tears and my hand still stung from impact, and that was the last conversation I had with Klaus about his addiction for years. I let people—my friends, support groups, even my own family—tell me that some things weren't worth sacrificing my own mental health over, but nothing took a ton of convincing when you had already convinced yourself. 

I'd thought Klaus was weak, back then, but I'd learned differently throughout the years; quite honestly, Klaus may have been the bravest of us all. Looking at my brother now, I wondered if he was using again. Honestly, I didn't think I could blame him; it did seem easier than dealing with this hell that had become all of our lives. I thought about what Luther had said, about rumoring him, but I couldn't do that to Klaus, not anymore. He'd gotten clean on his own before, and I knew he could do it again, with the right determination. I wanted to help him get there, but I wanted to _help_ , not force him to do it. I was okay with using my power for harmless things, or to save people, but not against the people I loved most. I'd used it on Claire, which had only ended badly, and against Vanya, which had ended in absolute disaster. 

I'd offered that solice to Ray, who hadn't even considered it, if it meant him not knowing he'd ever loved me. All that craziness, everything I'd ever hidden from him coming to light within barely three days, and he still loved me enough to let me go. I hadn't realized until I met Ray, who only knew me for me for three whole years before learning about my powers and family, that I'd never really loved someone before. At least not how I should have. I loved Patrick, at the time, and he hadn't been a bad father, hadn't been a bad husband. But I didn't love him, that was clear to me now. And Luther, who I only ever grew close to in the first place because we were raised together as child soldiers, I only loved as family now. 

I wondered if I'd ever love someone like that again, now that Ray was gone. I felt his absence like I felt Claire's, a hole in my chest so empty I thought I might cave in at any second, fold into myself and never return. That's why I had to help Klaus, and Vanya, and the rest of my siblings and even this new Academy—I needed to fix something, because everything inside me seemed broken beyond repair. And there was nothing I could do to fix _me._


	18. Five

I'd been dreading Monday all weekend, but now that it was finally here, I was more relieved than anything. At least now we could officially get this train wreck started. 

The first thing I noticed was the weird connections my siblings already seemed to have with the Sparrow Academy members. Vanya was smiling at a few people, as were Diego, Allison, _and_ Luther, and it was at different people for most of them. Klaus was the only one who seemed guarded and wary, and it almost pained me to see that he was the only one reacting appropriately. Hell truly had frozen over, apparently. 

Reginald began with introductions, and I filed away all the information he provided into the section of my brain I'd reserved for this timeline. I had a nearly-photographic memory, but even my capacity for shit like this was wearing thin. I'd lost count of how many new timelines this technically was for me, and no amount of coffee was going to get my time-boggled brain to focus as much as I wanted it to. Apparently age really did start to take it's toll sooner than you'd expect. 

I also noticed a pattern in our training schedules right away, and I wondered if any of the others had picked up on it. Reginald had split our "strongest" members up, so to say, so Vanya would never be able to logistically watch mine or Allison's training at all. It was a smart move on the old man's part, but it didn't make it less underhanded. I had a bad feeling about this whole thing, but I decided to blame it on my caffeine intake and not dwell on it too much. It was too late to object based on arbitrary "gut" feelings, I supposed. 

I followed my assigned person, glancing back as Luther jogged a bit to catch up with us. "Guess I'm observing you today." He offered me a smile, and I hoped I looked marginally pleased, though I sincerely doubted it. I was more focused on the man in front of us, who'd only introduced himself as 'Chris' before leading the way to a room in the east wing of the house, which looked to be a library in this timeline but that I was sure hadn't even been here in ours. 

Chris gestured for us to sit down on the small sofa, seating himself on the table in front of it. It was a weird position, but I was perched on the edge of the sofa myself, so I couldn't really throw much judgement his way. He picked up a notepad and a pen that were sitting next to him, ignoring Luther completely and focusing his full attention on me. 

"Name, age, ability." 

I didn't hesitate, wondering if they'd paired him with me because we were so strategically similar. I'd have asked the exact same question if I were in his shoes. "Five Hargreeves. Fifty-eight years old. I am able to spatially teleport as well as time travel, and more recently able to alter time itself." 

Luther seemed more surprised than Chris, who was quickly recording my response and didn't seem surprised in the slightest. "Okay. Give me a rundown of the events that occurred leading up to you all showing up here." 

I studied him closely as I answered, giving a brief summary of everything that had happened in the past two weeks. I knew it had been a lot longer for some of the others, but I didn't pay much mind to that, considering I'd been stuck in an apocalypse for forty-five years prior to even starting this shit show. Chris' expression remained neutral, and I was starting to get a sense that he may have some of the more interesting powers of his group. 

"May I ask a question?" Chris nodded for me to go ahead, and I felt Luther watching me curiously as I asked, "Where were you, the day we arrived? You weren't on the balcony." 

"I was." Chris didn't look up, but his pen had stopped it's scratching. I glanced at Luther, who raised his eyebrows at me inquisitively, and pressed on. 

"I didn't see you. I counted six, and you're the only one I didn't immediately recognize today." 

Finally, his eyes met mine, and I could tell he wanted to smirk. "That's not a question." 

"Let me rephrase. _What_ were you on the balcony?" 

A flash of teeth, so brief I thought I'd imagined it, and then Chris was gone. Luther jumped up, alarm radiating off him in waves, but I sat calmly and scanned the room, looking for anything out of place. I couldn't place anything until I heard a tiny, tiny buzz, and said, "A fly. Very clever." 

Luther was still looking at me like I was crazy, but then Chris was back, sitting exactly where he had been and giving Luther an apologetic smile. 

"Sorry. I thought I could call his bluff. I'll add 'diligently observant' to your file, Five; touche." 

I mock-saluted him, shrugging at Luther as an apology. I took it that none of my other siblings had noticed the absence of Chris that day, and I found it interesting that he could seemingly change into anything, living or not. 

"How refined are your abilities?" Chris had warmed up to me a bit, raising his eyebrows and actually looking at me this time. I carefully weighed my response, realizing that I honestly wasn't sure. I gave as much information as I could, figuring it couldn't hurt to be honest.

"My spatial jumps are fairly refined, I'd say. I do run out of energy relatively quickly, but it doesn't take much to refuel me. The time travel is another beast entirely, since I've managed to mess it up exactly two for two now. And I just discovered that I could manipulate time itself right before our arrival, and that was out of sheer survival and desperation alone." 

"How did you manipulate it?" 

"I reversed it." 

I watched Chris' hand scribbling furiously along with my words, trying to record everything I said down word for word. I looked to Luther, who I knew was confused but smiled at me encouragingly, which I appreciated. I didn't need his help, didn't need him here to watch over me, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I knew I was the short stick draw, so to say, and that Luther easily would rather have gone with Allison or Vanya. 

"Am I missing anything?" I directed the question at Luther, clearly catching him off-guard. I knew I wasn't, but I wanted him to feel useful. 

"I don't think so. You reversed time? Back at Sissy's barn?" 

I felt Chris' eyes on my face, but I fully ignored him, pretending he wasn't there as I gave Luther an explanation. It had been almost five full days since we'd arrived, and none of them knew what I'd discovered that day. I considered the fact that maybe I really was a terrible brother, but then, it really hadn't concerned them, either. 

"I did. When the Handler came in, and I knocked the gun out of her hand? It didn't happen like that the first time around." I lowered my gaze, not wanting to see Luther's reaction to what I was about to say. "The first time, she came in, and she shot us. All of us. Even Lila. She was about to shoot and finish me off when I reversed it, and I really wasn't even sure if I could do it. I'm lucky I could." I locked eyes with Chris, who had been silently watching, and nodded to him. "I owe your father that much. He gave me the idea." 

"Don't you mean our father?" he smirked, underlining something in his notebook. 

"No. I mean yours. Our father never even had the idea that I could do that, or else he would have taught me that first. It would have been much more useful to him. Your father was an impartial third party, and it just so happened that he had a theory that was correct." 

Chris nodded once, shrugged, and got back to writing. I turned back to Luther, who looked upset, and bit back a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys, but I didn't think it was that important at the moment. I don't even know if I can do it again." 

"You got shot?"

I felt my eyes widen, and I laughed, unable to believe that _that_ was why Luther seemed so upset. I was also a tiny bit relieved that he didn't seem to care, for now, that I hadn't told them. "Luther, I've been shot lots of times. That was nothing, and I'm fine now. We all are, luckily." 

"You've been shot multiple times before?" 

Luther and I looked at Chris, who was still listening despite his hand scribbling so fast it made a noise against the notepad. 

"Uh, yeah." I wondered how much I should reveal about the commission, since there was a slight possibility they knew nothing of them. I decided they probably did, since we'd spoken of the Handler and apocalypses already, and Allison and Vanya likely saw nothing wrong with revealing them. I wasn't so sure. "I was with an agency that removed timeline manipulators. More specifically, I was an assassin, and you're bound to be shot a few times in that line of work." 

Chris snorted. "Ironic, huh?" When I didn't immediately answer or laugh, he looked up, a bite to his smile. "Since you yourself are a pretty serious timeline manipulator, if you caused us to happen." 

I wanted to kindly tell him to fuck right off, but I didn't, smiling back just as coldly. "Well, if I knew what I did to cause that, I'd go right back and fix it. Immediately." 

After a few more questions, Chris asked if I could show him my spatial jumps, which I did. It was boring to me, in this setting, but I knew that it would be different if it ever came to a fight of any sort. Adrenaline was my main issue, and I knew that was what Reginald would exploit and abuse first. After all, it was what he'd done when we were kids, and I got out before the worst of it could happen. 

As we were leaving, I was just about to tell Luther how well that had surprisingly gone when we heard a scream from across the house. I sighed, wondering if there was a pocket of time I could find that didn't involve so much drama, so much stress. I was getting too old for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic officially has a thousand hits now! That is so cool! I'm really enjoying writing this, and I hope you all have been enjoying reading it! I'd absolutely love if you shared it with your friends, left some comments, or if you have tumblr or something—your feedback makes my week each and every time (especially yours, @avvngrzs!)😊 
> 
> (I also hope you guys liked the Christopher the Cube cameo in this chapter; how could I leave him out?😂)


	19. *Just a little update!*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm very very sorry about the lack of chapters last Saturday and tonight: my laptop decided to delete half of my progress for the next three chapters, so I'm having to rewrite the next two. I hope everyone understands, and I promise the next chapter will be up by this Saturday at the latest!

Thank you all so much for your continued support, and I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving, whether you're from the US and celebrating or just having a nice Thursday night dinner!😊


	20. Vanya

You know the days in school where you just went over the syllabus for the class? That's basically what that "first day" of training was for us. Diego came with me as Eleanor—my assigned Sparrow—led the way to the parlor, where she gestured for us to take a seat. I did, although Diego remained standing, to no one's surprise. Eleanor was the shy, quiet girl from dinner, and she was no different now, avoiding my gaze at all costs and only looking down at her notepad. 

"So, um. What all can you do/have been able to do with your power?" 

She said 'slash' and everything, which let me know right away that she was reading from a provided list of questions. I tried smiling at her, though I doubt she saw. "I think I can control sound waves. My powers are more volatile when I'm emotional, apparently, although I have been getting the hang of them here lately." 

Diego gave me a thumbs up, which I appreciated and reciprocated. Eleanor didn't pause to ask what I'd meant, rolling right on to the next question. 

"Have you hurt/killed anyone with this power?" 

Whoa. "Um." I swallowed, my voice catching. "Yes." 

"Who?" Eleanor's gaze flickered up briefly, and I hope she saw how I felt about admitting this out loud. 

"Well, technically, everyone. I've caused one apocalypse we still haven't fixed and almost caused another one. I killed a few people right at the beginning, killed way too many FBI agents last week, and almost…" I coughed, trying not to get overly emotional. "Almost killed Allison."

"She can also affect the weather." 

Both Eleanor and I looked at Diego in unison, eyes wide, and he suppressed a laugh. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Besides, you can." 

Eleanor shrugged and wrote it down, and I smiled at Diego, reminding myself to thank him later for not letting me dwell too much on the past. To his credit, I guessed it was safer for everyone if I didn't. 

Eleanor was pausing for a long while, and when she spoke once more, I knew she wasn't reading from a script anymore. "You said our father—your father, in your timeline—drugged you and wiped your memory?" I nodded. "Why? And why none of the others?" 

I could feel Diego's tension, but I didn't feel uncomfortable. I wondered if I should have. "I assume it's because he couldn't control me, and he could the other six. That's my guess, anyway. That I was dangerous, and a dangerous child is a lot worse than a dangerous thirty-year-old, in my opinion." 

Pursing her lips, Eleanor squinted at me, then Diego, and then back, seeming unsatisfied by my answer. "I don't understand that. No offense, but you don't seem even half as volatile as he does." She jerked her chin at Diego, who was steadily glaring at her. She did have a point. 

"Actually, you seem very stable, at least to me. You, your sister, and your brother, uh, Luther?" 

Diego's snort was loud, but I ignored him, smiling at Eleanor instead. "Thanks! You'd be surprised, though. We're all kind of fucked up and unstable, in our own ways." 

I couldn't suppress my giggle as Diego burst out laughing, and even Eleanor cracked a grin, trying to hide it by chewing on her pencil. 

"Anyway, so you've had no training then, at all?" 

I shrugged. "Not that I remember. I've mostly just tried a few little things and almost ended the world a couple of times." 

One of Eleanor's eyebrows flicked up briefly, and I smiled to myself, pleased that she seemed to be liking my humor. She was hardly showing it, though, which I respected. 

I saw Diego move out of the corner of my eye, and was surprised to find that he was raising his hand, waiting for Eleanor to let him speak. She waved her pencil at him, not looking up, but he didn't seem deterred. 

"What can you do?" 

A tiny twitch, at the side of her mouth. "I can turn into a murder of crows." 

Diego's eyes widened, and I knew he was stunned by her bluntness. I was smiling at it, and I knew she saw, despite never looking up from that tiny notepad. I liked her, even if the others didn't. 

"Can you demonstrate your power right now?" 

Diego's head snapped toward me, but I waved him off, knowing he hadn't seen my display with the sword to Reginald a few days ago. I closed my eyes, trying to find a noise to hone in on, and settled on the whir of the vents as the heating system kicked in. I didn't want to shatter anything, so I focused my energy on the water bottle Eleanor had carried in with her. After a few long moments, I heard the lid pop, and water shot straight in the air, splattering us all with droplets as it fell. 

Diego gently punched my arm, and I grinned as Eleanor wiped the water away, nodding. "Thank you. What sound did you use?" 

For some reason, I didn't want to say, and that instinct confused me. "Uh, the vents. I can hear the heater blowing." 

"Hm." It was the first verbal exclamation I'd received from Eleanor, and maybe that was what worried me more than anything. I didn't know why, and I didn't want to think too hard about it and make myself paranoid, but the hairs on my arms were standing on end and I didn't like the implications of that at all. 

Eleanor dismissed us, and actually smiled at me as we left, though she still didn't meet my eyes. I wondered if she liked us, or if she was just doing her job, interviewing and observing us. Humoring us. 

Diego and I walked in silence for a while, heading towards the stairs. I finally disrupted the peace when my inner thoughts got to be too much for me, and turned to face him, stopping cold. 

"Did anything feel off in there to you?" 

Diego's brow furrowed. "No? Well, I mean, the whole thing felt off because I don't like these people anyway, but no. I don't think so. Why?" 

I shrugged, wondering if it had just been my imagination. But then again, I could still feel the goosebumps on my arms. "I don't know. I didn't like that last question, or the way she responded. The whole vibe was different." 

I could tell I was getting to Diego, which I didn't really think was a good thing. Diego was worse than I was with the paranoia. 

"Okay. Maybe she was surprised? I know I was. You can use the sound waves from _a heating unit? _That's pretty dope."__

__I smiled, rolling my eyes. "I could use less, probably. I think I have. Things are louder than you think."_ _

__Diego squinted at me, and I could tell he was trying to cheer me up by boosting my ego. "You've used _less? _How?"___ _

____I shrugged again. "Clock ticking. Whispering. A fly buzzing. My own heartbeat."_ _ _ _

____The last part made him raise his eyebrows, and I realized then that I'd slipped up. I knew he'd ask, and I didn't know if I wanted them to know about that little detail, not yet. Not now. Not ever. I didn't know._ _ _ _

____"How did you use your heartbeat?"_ _ _ _

____I had been unconsciously pulling at my hair, and picking at my nails, and the thing about Diego was that he was a lot more perceptive than any of us have him credit for. We all sort of considered him an idiot, but it didn't take a full minute before he had me figured out._ _ _ _

____He looked sad, more than anything, when he asked, "That stupid room Luther put you in, back in 2019? That's h-how you got out, isn't it?"_ _ _ _

____I just nodded, and was relieved when Diego said nothing as he pulled me into a hug. I knew they knew I was sorry, but that didn't stop the fact that I was the sole reason we were stuck here in the first place. Five tried to fix my mess twice, no, three times now, and each and every time, I was still the mess._ _ _ _

____I felt Diego jump before I heard the scream, and sighed with relief at the fact that the cause, this time, was not me. We barely looked at each other as we headed in the direction of the scream, and Diego chuckled, shaking his head._ _ _ _

____"Place your bets now. One of ours or the Sparrows, and which one?"_ _ _ _

____I snorted. "Ours, for sure. We don't scream. And my money's on Five, or maybe Klaus—you?"_ _ _ _

____"Klaus for sure. Boy's got issues; maybe they finally figured that out."_ _ _ _

____That was fair. But then I frowned, thinking about it. "Wait. Five and Allison are the only ones actually doing training. Klaus is with Allison."_ _ _ _

____We started running a lot faster after that._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we're back on track now! Sorry to keep you guys waiting for this one, but I hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will be up on Wednesday!😊


	21. Allison

I should've known I'd be paired with Carla. It made the most sense, but I still wasn't happy about it in the slightest. She was too similar to me, and yet, too different, and I wanted nothing to do with her. To my surprise, however, Olivia tagged along, which eased the tension a bit. Sort of. 

Klaus didn't help things, either, but he didn't seem as down as yesterday. Just quiet, and I saw some semblance of the old Klaus in his smile, whenever my gaze would lock with his. It wasn't the same, and it still seemed forced, but there was a warmth to it now that I was relieved to see. Klaus wasn't designed to be a cold person.

Carla led us to what appeared to be a greenroom, with floor to ceiling windows and plants stacked around us in precarious positions. Klaus seemed intrigued, and he studied the plants while Carla and I sat across from each other in two of the four chairs in the room. Olivia took another one, and pulled out a tiny notepad and pen, smiling at me briefly as Carla jumped right in. I hadn't even had time to cross my legs and sit back.

"So we basically have the same power, except you say "rumor". Why?" 

I didn't want to explain myself to her. Hell, I didn't want to tell her anything at all, but I didn't really have a choice. "I don't know. That's what I was trained to do, by Reginald, when I was a kid." 

"Can you compel anyone to do anything?" 

I glared at Carla. "Again, I don't know. When we were in the sixties, I guess I did rumor someone to do something, without saying it. I hadn't really meant to, though." 

"Hmm." Carla was eying Klaus like a snake, nodding her chin towards him and looking back at me. "You ever 'rumor' him?" 

"What?" I snapped, glancing towards my brother. He was still focused on the plants, to my relief. "Of course not." 

"But you did, to Vanya?" 

I wanted to slap the smug smile right off her face. I assumed she'd learned that indirectly through Reginald, doubting that Vanya had willingly given up that information. "Yeah, I did. I was forced to, when we were probably no more than five." 

Carla could see right through me, and I decided that if it ever came down to it, I'd go after her first. Some of these Sparrows were probably fine, but Carla was cruel and I despised her already. There was a darkness to her that I didn't like, one that I wanted to run from and never see again. 

She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, enjoying herself. "Ever rumored any of your other siblings? Any loved ones?" 

_How did she know? _I glared right back, trying not to waver, and shook my head. I didn't think about Vanya slitting my throat, or about Patrick taking Claire away from me for her own good. I didn't think about how I was only famous because of the lies I made true. I didn't think of the many, many times I'd wanted to rumor my siblings, just because they got on my nerves, or the few times that I did. I just thought about beating Carla at her own game, and it seemed to work, since she sat back with a _humph. _____

____Carla was eying Klaus again, and I didn't like the way she had started to smile. I almost saw it coming when she softly asked, _"You want to sit down with us, hun?"__ _ _ _

______Klaus turned around sharply, not seeming bothered as he immediately took the remaining chair. I clenched my fist, gritting my teeth against the urge to get up and wring her neck._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Stop. This is about me, remember? So next question."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Carla shrugged, releasing Klaus from whatever hold she had on him for the time being. He looked confused for a second, but Carla was done playing with him. For now._ _ _ _ _ _

______"Fine. Can you rumor yourself?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______That threw me for a loop. "Uh, I'm not sure. I've never tried, and I think the closest I've been was right before we got here. I had my own power mirrored back at me."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"And it worked?" Carla seemed more interested now. I nodded, brushing off the memory of being unable to breathe, unable to do anything to Lila, who had tried to kill me so effortlessly, so unremorsefully. It reminded me far too much of how I felt when Vanya almost killed me, and I tried not to remember that, either._ _ _ _ _ _

______Actually, it reminded me a lot of Carla._ _ _ _ _ _

______"It did. I couldn't breathe, and I thought I was going to die, and—"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"How did you break out of it?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______I didn't appreciate her interrupting, but I just shrugged. "I'm not sure. Luther gave me CPR, I guess, and then I was back."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Carla's eyes were bright, and Liv was eyeing her worriedly, having abandoned her job of note-taking. Klaus also seemed on edge now, bouncing his foot up and down, up and down, capturing my attention and causing me to lower my guard against Carla._ _ _ _ _ _

______It was the last time I'd ever do that again._ _ _ _ _ _

_______"Why can't you breathe, Allison?" ____ _ _ _ _ _

_________What? _I opened my mouth to reply, only she was right; I couldn't breathe. I tried not to panic, tried to pretend I was just holding my breath, but I felt my heart rate speed up, felt my pulse pounding in my temple. I heard a noise, and realized that it came from me, a raspy squeak that scared me more than anything else. Carla was laser-focused on me, unblinking, and I saw Liv drop her notepad, thinking that I should have been able to hear it hit the ground and realizing I could only hear my own heartbeat. The edges of my vision were going hazy, and I kept glaring up at Carla, my resolve fading quickly. I was dying, she was killing me and I couldn't even fight back, and now I realized I was on the floor and everything seemed darker than before, foggier than before. I was fading fast, and just caught a glimpse of red flashing past before I closed my eyes completely, too light-headed to do anything else.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I thought I'd passed out, but it was only moments later that I felt the air slam back into my lungs, pulling me fully back into consciousness. I blinked my eyes open, and everything seemed watery, tears clouding my vision. I saw Klaus standing very close to Carla, who—_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Who was floating. She was suspended, mid-air, and her eyes and mouth were wide open. She looked both terrified and terrifying, and Klaus was calmly looking up at her, almost appearing to be asleep, save for the blood that was trickling from his nose. I was wondering if I was hallucinating when Liv touched my shoulder, crouching beside me and giving me an apologetic smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"I'm sorry, about Carla. She has an… unorthodox way of training, I suppose."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Psh," I scoffed. "Unorthodox, my ass. She almost killed me." I looked back up at her, chilled by the expression on her face. "What's wrong with her? What's wrong with Klaus?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Liv raised an eyebrow at me. "Uh, well, it appears that your brother has possessed her. I think."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"He can do that?" I wanted to laugh at how shocked I sounded, and Liv cracked a smile, shrugging._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"I guess. Can you get him to stop?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I pulled myself to my feet, still a little dizzy but not enough to affect me permanently. I approached Klaus very slowly, extending my hand until it just brushed his arm._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Klaus. You can stop now, I'm okay."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________No response. I shook him, then, and once more, fairly roughly. "Klaus! Stop!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________All at once, Carla dropped, hitting the chair hard and rolling to the floor with a groan. Klaus fell back, immediately going limp, and I barely caught him in time so that he didn't hit his head. He appeared to have passed out cold, but Carla was up in a flash, eyes blazing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"What the fuck was that?! What did he do to me?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I shrugged, giving her a look that could kill. "I don't know, and I don't care. You deserved it, after almost killing me."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Carla huffed, storming out of the room and almost slamming directly into Five, who'd appeared out of the blue. He must've heard Carla. Liv sighed deeply, rubbing her temples. "She's gonna tell dad, so brace yourself for him to chew you out."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Five raised an eyebrow at me, and walked over to where Klaus was still blacked out, the small trickle of blood running over his lips now. I gave Five a pleading look, and he disappeared without a word, going to find Grace._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I cradled Klaus' head in my lap, smoothing his hair down and trying to get him to wake up. I patted his cheek, adding a little force, and I saw his eyelashes flutter. A moment later, his green eyes were looking around, settling on me after a few moments._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Hey, cowboy. What the hell was that?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Klaus shrugged, wincing, and Liv handed me a water bottle as I pulled him up into a sitting position. Five had returned with Grace, and we were all circled around Klaus, who looked pale even for him. Grace immediately took action, while the rest of us took a miniscule step back, watching as she checked his vitals. She had him follow her finger with his gaze, as well as shining a tiny flashlight in his eyes. Finally, she stood up, smiling at the rest of us._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"He'll be fine. I'll make something for him to eat, and then with a good night's sleep, he'll be good as new!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Klaus mumbled a thank you as Grace swished past us, as well as Luther, Diego, and Vanya, who were also now standing in the doorway. Olivia was the odd one out, and she brushed herself off, nodding to me as she headed towards the door._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Just a heads up," she jerked her chin at Klaus, who was still sitting on the floor. "Dad is gonna be pissed at you." She waved as she left, and the other four stared at me in confusion, having no idea what had happened at all. I sighed, knowing I was going to have to explain and realizing that I still wasn't quite sure I understood it, myself._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I looked back at Klaus, who'd already chugged the water bottle and wiped away most of the blood on his face. He waved at our siblings, who were all looking as if they couldn't decide whether to be angry at Klaus or as confused as me. They didn't really have time to ask, however, as Carla shoved past them, jabbing a finger at Klaus and I._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Both of you. Reginald's office. Now."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________I glared daggers at her, and Klaus flipped her off with a goofy smile, dropping both as she stormed off once more. He tried to stand, swaying hard, and I steered him towards the door by his arm, shrugging at the rest of them. "See you guys later, I guess. Maybe. Dammit, it's only the first day of this shit."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"Told you."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________We all glared at Five, who held his hands up. "I did! You guys cannot be surprised."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________The worst part was, we weren't._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! The chapter I wanted to post two weeks ago but got deleted😌 I really love how this turned out (even the second time around), and I hope you guys like it as well!


	22. Klaus

I hated not having Ben around anymore. Because if he had been here, I could have at least asked _him _what the fuck was going on. He wouldn't have known, but still. I'd have felt better. I knew Allison was confused, which sucked because I was even more confused and _I'd done it. _____

____"Hey, y'know when magicians pull rabbits out of hats?"_ _ _ _

____Allison laughed. "Yeah, Klaus, I do. This had better not be another one of your frog riddles."_ _ _ _

____I sighed dramatically. "No one understands me. Anyway, point is, I'm the magician and every new thing I do is a rabbit out of a hat. Only I don't know the trick either, and I think it'll be a rabbit and it's a fucking pigeon."_ _ _ _

____I smiled as Allison laughed harder, and I pushed her hand off my arm, feeling mostly fine now. I hooked my elbow around hers, though, and we walked arm and arm into Reg's office, ready to be grounded or whatever._ _ _ _

____The old man did not look pleased, to put it lightly. "You." He stabbed a finger at Allison, scowling down at his notebook without looking up. "Talk. What happened?"_ _ _ _

____Allison didn't stutter, and kept her fiery gaze on Carla, who was standing next to the desk, the whole time. "She made me stop breathing, and I blacked out. I think the only reason she stopped was whatever Klaus did, and I'm glad he did, too, or I'd probably be dead."_ _ _ _

____Reginald huffed. "You. Boy. What did you do?"_ _ _ _

____"Klaus."_ _ _ _

____Reginald's eyes snapped up, and I felt my body go cold as he glared at me. "What?"_ _ _ _

____"Klaus. That's my name. Not boy."_ _ _ _

____If I had been able to look at the expression on either of the girl's faces, I would have, because I was pretty damn pleased with my sass. Unfortunately, I was rooted to the spot by Reginald's stare, and I felt like I was ten again and about to be sent back to my own personal hell for disobeying him. It was a terrifying feeling, even after all these years._ _ _ _

____This Reginald just sighed, which I much rather preferred than a mausoleum or graveyard. He looked back down at his notebook, ready to write. "Fine. _Klaus. _What did you do?"___ _ _ _

______I raised my eyebrows. "Wow. Y'know, I actually don't think I have ever heard you say my name! And I lived with you for one, two… sixteen years! Crazy."_ _ _ _ _ _

______Reginald closed his eyes, and I knew if I didn't start talking he'd probably kill me this time. I cut the bullshit, sighing right back at him._ _ _ _ _ _

______"I really don't know what I did. I guess I possessed her, but I don't know how, since I was just going to punch her to make her stop choking Allison. I walked up to her, ready to throw hands, and next thing I knew, I was on the floor and she was pissed as hell."_ _ _ _ _ _

______"You were going to hit me?" Carla turned towards me, riled back up, and maybe this time she did want to fight. "How rude could you—"_ _ _ _ _ _

______"Oh, shut the fuck _up. _" Allison rolled her eyes at Carla's open mouth, disbelief evident in her tone. "You were killing me. I wish he would have punched you, since now that leaves that job to me."___ _ _ _ _ _

________" _Stop! _" Reginald's shout silenced them both, and I just laughed, fully enjoying this. "There will be no petty squabbles between anyone. Is that clear?"___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Allison and Carla mumbled agreements, and I shrugged, playing along. I'd caused the squabble this time, so I couldn't say much else._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________"This will be the last time I say this before there is a punishment. _No one _is to interfere with the other group member's training. Is that clear?"___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"Even if they're killing us?" Allison sounded outraged, and I didn't blame her._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________"They're not killing you, I can promise you that. They are all expertly trained. Do I make myself clear, _Klaus?" _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________I saluted him, and he nodded, turning to Carla. "Since this entire debacle was instigated by you, you will apologize, and you will not compel Allison to stop breathing ever again. Is that clear?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Carla glared at him for a long time before turning to Allison, lips pursed. "I am sorry, and that will not happen again. I didn't mean to scare you."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________Allison nodded, once, and Reginald shut the notebook with a loud thud. "Good. Now leave, all of you, and if I am to see any of you in here again under these circumstances, there will be severe consequences."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________We all filed out, Carla storming past us without a second glance and receiving another eye roll from Allison._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"She's absolutely the worst one."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"Oh, by far." I agreed, and rubbed at my eyes, feeling a migraine pulsing at my temples. I waved at Allison, heading towards my room to go pass out, and heard her jog to catch up with me._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________"Hey. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_______________No. _"Yep!" I smiled, gesturing lavishly over myself. "Never better. I'll try not to possess anyone while I'm asleep, though."__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________I must've been a better liar than I thought, since Allison just patted my arm and rolled her eyes, in her sisterly way. I made it all the way to my room before the tears came, and why they came, I wasn't really sure. Maybe it was stress, or maybe confronting Reginald again for the first real time in years. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the silence in my head, the loudness and emptiness of nothing but my own thoughts to fill the space Ben once filled._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Only then did I realize I wasn't in my room at all, but his instead, sitting on the bed where he should've been and staring at the place where a bookshelf once stood. I closed my eyes, trying to subconsciously feel him, his presence, his essence, something. But I knew, more than anyone else on this planet, what it felt like to feel the presence of a ghost. Ben wasn't here, and neither was his spirit, and I cried myself to sleep missing my brother so, so much more than I had even intended._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________My dreams, at least, featured Dave once more, who was giving me a look of pity that I would've despised on anyone's face but his._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________"You can do this without Ben, Klaus. You're strong. You made it through an actual war without him, remember?" ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________"I had you." _My voice sounded detached, but still broken, even to my own ears. Dave shook his head, smiling.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________________"You still have me. You'll always have me, even if you don't realize that yet." ____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________I shrugged, willing Dave away and myself back to sleep. I probably dreamt of him, or Ben, or some nightmare in between, but I also thought a lot about what happened with Carla._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________Scary as it might be, I felt like I knew how to do it again, if the need ever arose. It may have truly been an accident, but I was sober and picked up on the technique, much like I used to as a child. Everyone may have thought I was useless, and they may have been right. But maybe, just maybe, they were wrong._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	23. Diego

"Name." 

"Diego Hargreeves." 

"Age." 

"Uh, thirty." 

"Abilities?"

I hesitated for too long, until Carla finally raised an eyebrow at me. "I can throw knives, like, anywhere. I can also, I dunno, stop things in midair? Reroute their course? I really don't know." 

Carla's stare was calculated and unblinking. "So you don't even know your own capabilities?" 

"N...no. I guess I don't." 

Even though Klaus had been the main person who got in trouble for meddling with Allison's training the day before, we'd all been reassigned people, so I was accompanied by Five today, the most level-headed of the bunch. He didn't seem bothered, though, and I appreciated his attempt at civility. No matter how forced it was. 

Carla led us outside, and I saw an array of multiple types of knives, spears, axes, and pretty much anything else that could wreak some serious havoc. I focused immediately, and Carla noticed, shaking her head with a smile. Five took a seat on a bench a few feet away, and I turned to the stand, running my hands along the bases of the weapons.

"I want you to start by showing me what you know you're able to do." 

I nodded, and carefully chose a few of the knives, which Carla made note of. I eyed the targets on the stone wall in front of us, turning around completely and instead facing Carla, who widened her eyes but didn't interject. 

I didn't break eye contact as I threw the knife straight at her. Other than flinching, she didn't move, and the knife spun back towards and past me, hitting the bullseye behind me with a soft thud. I closed my eyes and did the same thing once more, with my other hand, and Carla smiled as she quickly jotted down her notes. 

"Very good. More impressive to watch you do it than to listen to you describe it." 

I heard Five snort, and without even glancing at him, threw the knife in his direction. It hit the bench beside him with a loud clang, causing Carla to jump in surprise. Five hadn't even blinked, but the thought was what counted anyway. 

Carla was eyeing me curiously now, and nodded towards the display of weapons. "Can you do anything else? Anything larger?" 

I shook my head. "Reginald tried to get me to throw swords once, and that ended so badly we just stuck to perfecting the knives." 

Carla nodded, unsurprised. "Ever boxed?" 

That intrigued me. "Yeah, a bit, actually. Why?" 

The smile she was giving me now had my stomach turning with nerves. She gently set her notebook on the ground, running her hand along the blades of the knives next to her. I remembered then what she had said about her own interest in knife throwing, and realized her angle almost too late. I saw a glint, heard a whoosh, and thanked our past Reginald for teaching me how to dodge blows as much as he taught us to throw them. 

"What the hell?" I yelled, still crouching from where I'd dodged the knife she'd thrown. "That isn't anything like boxing!" 

"No, but the skill set is similar enough." Carla was way too calm, and I glanced at Five, who seemed interested but wasn't protesting. 

"You said you can curve trajectories, no?" Carla had five blades in between her fingers now, and I felt my eyes widen involuntarily. 

"No, I said I did, not that I could," I backed up half a step, knowing this could get ugly very quickly. "Besides, those were bullets, and that was a life or death situation." 

Carla grinned. "Funnily enough, so is this." 

The knives were nothing more than glints of sunlight on metal, and I dodged them, one after another, flip after jump after roll. Carla had originally only had five in her hand, but this was her chosen hobby and she reloaded faster than I could move. I was out of breath before I knew it, and the knives were still coming, whizzing by me like flies. I felt one hit my arm, and I cried out, hitting the ground hard from where I had been about to roll once more. I saw Five jump to his feet in the distance, and heard Carla's sing-songy voice float towards me from behind. 

"Diego, darling, I know you can do better than that." 

I thought of Lila, then, telling me pretty much the same thing. I thought of how I needed to see her again, needed to prove to my siblings that I wasn't just a useless vigilante, needed to prove to myself that I had it in me to do something greater than just throw knives. I remembered Lila, bandaging my wound from Reginald stabbing me, this Reginald, who was still waiting for me to fail yet again. That rage alone compelled me to keep going; after all, I had always been a hothead. 

I turned back to Carla, pulling the knife out of my arm and gasping in pain, just in time to see ten more knives flying straight at my face. Time seemed to slow down, and I didn't feel the need to breathe anymore, focusing on those ten deadly pieces of metal. I raised my hand, as if to stop them, and they did, hovering a foot or so in front of me. I felt their weight, as if they were already in my hands, as if they were a part of my hands themselves. I pushed them out of the way with a huff, hearing them smack the target behind me a few moments later, in rapid succession. 

I saw Carla move to grab one of the axes, and threw the knife from my arm without a moment's hesitation. It snagged her sleeve, yanking her hand away from the display, and I glared at her as I walked towards the house. 

"I'm done for today. Take your stupid notes, I'm going to get a bandaid." 

I stomped off, ignoring Five completely and pretending I didn't see the smug smile on Carla's face. Five appeared next to me moments later, just as calm and collected as he had been when we'd arrived. 

"You did well. It's definitely impressive." His tone was merely matter-of-fact, nothing more than pragmatic, and I shot him a look that could kill.

"Fuck off, I could've died." 

"But you didn't. That's the point." 

I whirled around, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him, probably a little too forcefully. "And what if I had, Five? She hit me with one knife and you didn't do a goddamn thing. What if those others had all hit me at once? You think I would've survived? How bout if she'd kept pushing me and pushing me and pushing me until I passed out? Then what?" 

Five opened his mouth, but said nothing, seeming shocked at my outburst. I released my grip on his tiny arms, heading towards Grace's nook without even thinking about it. I knew it wouldn't be that easy, however, and sighed deeply when Five appeared in front of me, eyes ablazing. 

"If you keep doing that I am going to stab you for real." 

Five shrugged, glaring at me. "If you think I didn't do anything because I don't care about you, fine. Think what you like. But I did it because I knew you had it in you, and I knew your survival instinct was better than you thought. That's how you learned this power in the first place; that's how I learned I could rewind time. It's survival, Diego." Five spun on his heel, stomping in the opposite direction and leaving me astounded. He was almost to the stairs when he called over his shoulder, "Besides, everyone always seems to believe in you a little bit more than you believe in yourself. " 

I blinked, surprised, and he was gone. That last part had almost sounded like a compliment, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, we were all whittling Five's cold exterior down the longer we were around him. So far he'd apologized to me, apologized to Vanya, went shopping with them, and now complimented me? The Five we knew before would never—had never—apologize, warranted or not. 

I was still thinking about it when I reached Grace's nook, which appeared normal and familiar at first glance. She wasn't there, so I sat on the small loveseat, studying her paintings like I used to. They were beautiful, and I knew Grace loved them; if I'd had any artistic ability whatsoever, I probably would've tried to paint her something. It always ate at me, at the guilty parts of my conscious, that I'd never really told Grace thank you for all she'd done for us. For me, more than anyone else. They all viewed it as her being programmed to do everything, not having a will of her own, but the thing was, Grace had always seemed more human to me than not. She did care, she did try, and she took being our mother more to heart than Reginald had ever intended. That much I was sure of. 

I heard footsteps behind me, and rose as Grace rounded the corner, seeming surprised but pleased to see me nonetheless. "Diego! How are you?" 

I smiled, her sunny grin reminding me how much I'd missed her for the past couple of months. "I'm good, Grace, thanks. I was wondering if I could get a bandage for this—" I gestured at my arm, which was still trickling blood. Grace wordlessly examined my wound, frowning, and gestured for me to follow her. 

I hopped up on the medical table once Grace had led me to the infirmary, having done this same routine countless times before. Even as kids, I'd always been the most accident prone, and had been stitched up by Grace more times than I could count. I watched as she gathered her supplies, cleaning my wound with a motherly focus I wasn't convinced was entirely programmed into her. I wasn't even her "child", this time around, and yet she seemed to care for me all the same. 

Once Grace had finished stitching the slice, she wound a bandage all the way around my arm, tying it off with a smile. "There," she patted my arm gently. "Good as new."

"Thank you, Grace." I flexed my arm, wincing a tad bit. "Next time, it won't be just me in here." 

"Mm." Grace turned around, washing her hands as she asked, "Carla, I take it?" 

Ugh, even just hearing her name pissed me off. "Yeah. It was like fighting myself, only ten times worse. I'd never do that to someone." 

I knew Grace wasn't happy, but she had her smile set in place as she turned back towards me, polite as always. "It's a good thing you have quick reflexes, then!" 

I didn't smile, raising an eyebrow at her instead. "Yeah. It is. Too bad Allison's situation didn't have a thing to do with reflexes." 

Grace's smile faltered, but didn't fall all the way. I didn't want to upset her, but I was right, and she knew it. I waved to her as I got up to leave, knowing where I was going before I'd consciously decided on anything. 

I found Carla in the basement, putting away a tub full of the weapons she'd had outside. I said nothing as I shoved her against the wall, my forearm pressed against her windpipe. Her eyes widened, more in anger than fear, and I barely spoke above a whisper despite how angry I was. 

"You're lucky I didn't kill you back there. I could have. I wanted to. I know you wanted to kill me, because it's fun to you, right? Watching people scramble for their lives?" 

Carla said nothing, not that she could have, anyway. I hadn't relaxed my arm in the slightest, because I knew she could have me dead in a second if I did. But I knew she wanted to smile, because I was right. 

"I'm only going to say this once. If you fuck with any of us again, I'll kill you myself. I don't care if it's training, or if "you weren't going to actually kill us". If we even think you're going to kill us, it's fair game. Got it?" 

Carla nodded as much as she could, and I returned it, leaning in close just before letting her go. "You're not going to snitch to Reginald, either, because that's a little bitch move and we're adults." 

I released her, and she sucked in air as calmly as she could, glaring at me the whole time. I turned to go, wanting to ignore her next words but being unable to. 

"You've killed a lot of people, right, Diego?" 

I didn't turn around, but I nodded, causing Carla to cackle. 

"I figured. That's the first time you haven't stuttered, even a little bit, because that's what you're used to. Dolling out threats, ready to kill innocent people with a flick of your wrist. Right?"

"Not innocent people. I kill bad guys; I protect people." 

"But you like killing them, right? It's fun for you, too, isn't it?" 

I didn't answer, and her laugh sent chills down my spine as I climbed the steps, wanting to get as far away from the darkness of the basement and Carla as I could get.


	24. *Another little update!*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So sorry about the delay in chapters once more; quite honestly, I've been very busy at work and lacking any creativity whatsoever. I've decided to call it a wrap for the holidays (my next day off is Christmas), but the next chapter will be posted January 2nd, and it will be a Luther one!

I hope everyone has a peaceful end to 2020, and I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me this year for this fic. I'm still having tons of fun writing it, and I will always, always look forward to you guys commenting on it! Can't wait to post the next chapter in 2021—happy holidays everyone!!😊


End file.
